The presence of YSR Congress MLA Kodali Sri Venkateswara Rao (Nani) at an official function here on Saturday triggered off speculation that he too could return to the Telugu Desam Party.
Whether this presence is the first of many steps needed for Mr. Venkateswara Rao to return to his ‘parent’ party is yet to be seen. Pressure has been reportedly mounting on him from his followers ever since some of his party MLAs crossed over to the TDP.
What added weight to the speculation was the way the Gudivada legislator arrived to the venue of the inauguration of the NTR Veterinary Super Speciality Hospitals, along with former Rajya Sabha member Nandamuri Harikrishna. Mr. Harikrishna and Mr. Venkateswara Rao are old friends. The latter is said to have groomed Junior NTR into a star.
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Mr. Harikrishna arrived at the venue much earlier than Agriculture Minister Prathipati Pulla Rao. He sat along with TDP MLC Buddha Venkanna and MARKFED chairman Kanchi Rama Rao. Mr. Pulla Rao was accompanied by Water Resources Minister Devineni Umamaheswara Rao. The Water Resources Minister gave Mr. Harikrishna a hug and stuck to him throughout, ignoring Mr. Venkateswara Rao. But the Gudivada MLA refused to leave the venue and stayed on till the very end.
Machilipatnam MP Konakalla Narayana and senior leaders of the party such as Gali Muddukrishnama Naidu, Kodela Sivaprasada Rao, Nettam Raghu Ram and senior Congress leaders, who joined the TDP recently, Mandali Buddha Prasad and Pinnamaneni Venkateswara Rao have a “soft corner” for Mr. Venkateswara Rao, his followers claim. The followers say the return of the MLA to the Telugu Desam Party was needed to strengthen the party in Krishna district.
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Mr. Harikrishna’s affection for the Gudivada MLA is quite evident, but the actor’s word does not have much weight in the party nowadays. Mr. Nettam Raghu Ram still has a lot of influence with party president N Chandrababu Naidu.
But there seem to be two big stumbling blocks for Mr. Venkateswara Rao’s return to the TDP. The first is Mr. Umamaheswara Rao. The rivalry between the two is old. When he left the TDP, Mr. Venkateswara Rao said that he was leaving because of Mr. Umamaheswara Rao. The second is Mr. Naidu himself.
CriticismMr. Venkateswara Rao’s criticism of Mr. Naidu after joining YSRC cannot be wished away easily, considering that the party president is sort of “sensitive” for a politician, the Gudivada MLA’s detractors in the TDP say.
When reporters suggested that his accompanying Mr. Harikrishna was an indication of his defection to the TDP, Mr. Venkateswara Rao said, not too emphatically, that he came only because he was a disciple of the actor and that he had no plans to leave the YSRC.