Former Union Minister V. Kishore Chandra Deo will join the Telugu Desam Party along with his supporters in Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu’s presence at Amaravati on February 24.
After meeting Mr. Naidu in New Delhi on Tuesday, Mr. Deo, who resigned from the Congress sometime ago, told The Hindu on phone that in the larger interest of the State and the nation, he had decided to play an active role in the TDP.
Mr. Deo, a five-time Lok Sabha and one-time Rajya Sabha member, said he did not discuss contesting on the TDP ticket from the Araku Lok Sabha seat, which he had represented during 2009-14. He was the Minister for Tribal Welfare and Panchayat Raj in the Manmohan Singh government and the Minister for Steel, Mines and Coal in the Charan Singh government.
‘Unconditional’
“My decision to join the TDP is unconditional.”
Mr. Deo said before resigning from the Congress, he spent one and a half month in Kurupam, his native place in Vizianagaram district to discuss with his followers on his future course of action.
He said he would formally join the TDP along with his supporters from seven Assembly segments in the Araku Lok Sabha constituency. YSR Congress Party’s Kothapalli Geetha won from the seat in 2014. She later sided with the TDP and announced to form her own party.
Asked to specify the reason, he said he was impressed with Mr. Naidu’s resolve to fight against fascist trends.
Mr. Naidu had also decided to go with the Rahul Gandhi-led Congress for achieving the Special Category Status.
Mr. Deo recalled he was part of the Union Cabinet when the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh decided to confer the status on Andhra Pradesh.
