Former Union Minister A. Sai Pratap joined the ruling Telugu Desam Party in the presence of TDP national president and AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu here on Thursday.
A six-time MP from Rajampet Lok Sabha constituency of Kadapa district, Mr. Sai Pratap resigned from the Congress in protest against its decision to bifurcate the State. He had kept himself away from active politics ever since.
A close confidant of former Chief Minister late Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, Mr. Sai Pratap hails from the Balija community, forming part of the Kapus, which has significant presence in Kadapa, Anantapur and Chittoor districts of Rayalaseema region. His entry is seen as a move to reaffirm the ruling party’s commitment to the empowerment of the Kapu community, besides strengthening the TDP in Kadapa district dominated by the main Opposition, YSR Congress Party.
The development comes as yet another dampener to the Congress which was decimated in the previous general elections.
The party has since been witnessing a steady stream of defections of senior leaders as they are apprehensive of their political future if they continued in the grand old party. The defections, senior TDP leaders claim, expose the fact that the scope for revival of the Congress in the near future is bleak.
According to TDP MP C.M. Ramesh, more defections into the ruling party are in the offing in the coming days as the leaders see no prospects in their respective parties. The YSR Congress headed by Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy could not live up to the expectations of the people.
The Congress and the YSRC were faced with leadership crisis and hence, their leaders were looking to the TDP. Mr. Sai Pratap would have contested from the Rajampet Lok Sabha seat during the previous elections, but the seat had gone to the BJP as part of the electoral understanding.
Mr. Sai Pratap said the new State was faced with numerous problems post-bifurcation. It needed a strong leader with vision to overcome the obstacles for achieving accelerated growth. He said an action plan for comprehensive development of the Rayalaseema region would be finalised in consultation with Mr. Naidu and works would be launched accordingly.
