The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) suffered a jolt as its senior leader and MLA from Chirala Karanam Balarama Krishnamurthy on Thursday met Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy along with his son Venkatesh, setting off speculation over his next move.
Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy draped the party shawl on Mr. Venkatesh, signalling his entry into the party.
Mr. Krishnamurthy, a TDP strongman in Prakasam district who has been with the party since its inception, met the Chief Minister at his camp office at Tadepalli, where Minister for Environment and Forest Balineni Srinivasa Reddy was also present.
Though Mr. Krishnamurthy stopped short of announcing his exit from the TDP, it was evident that he had taken a decision already.
The YSRCP, on the other hand, had made it clear that it would not admit any MLA into the party until he or she resigned from the membership of the Legislative Assembly.
Spate of desertions
The development comes close on the heels of a spate of desertions in the TDP, leaving the party in tatters ahead of the local body elections scheduled in the last week of this month.
Mr. Krishnamurthy had won the Chirala seat by defeating Amanchi Krishna Mohan of the YSRCP.
“We have decided to join the YSRCP after seeing the good work done by Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy who has initiated several welfare schemes in a span of just nine months. We feel that we can serve the people better by being in the YSRCP,” said Mr. Venkatesh after meeting the Chief Minister.
Earlier this week, TDP MLC Dokka Manikya Vara Prasada Rao, former MLA S.A. Rahman and former Minister P. Rama Suba Reddy joined the YSRCP. Former vice-chairman of the Legislative Council Satish Reddy from Pulivendala resigned from the party citing personal reasons.
Other MLAs and MLCs who had left the TDP included Maddali Giridhara Rao (Guntur West), Pothula Sunitha ( Anantapur) and Ch. Sivanatha Reddy.
Those who joined the YSRCP after coming out of TDP were Kadiri Babu Rao (Kanigiri), Jupudi Prabhakar Rao (spokesperson), Mr. Rahman (Visakhapatnam), Beda Mastan (Nellore), Tota Trimurthulu (Ramachandapuram), Devineni Avinash (Gudivada), T. Vijay Kumar (Visakhapatnam), Karem Sivaji and Ch. Sansyasi Patrudu.
