As YSRC shut doors, defectors flock TDP

Hyderabad, March 17: There is a growing perception among the people that Naidu, with his administrative experience, is the best bet to develop the new State of residuary Andhra Pradesh and its prospective capital city.

His imminent tie-up with the BJP and the widespread expectation that NDA would come to power at the Centre have added momentum to the party's rise in Seemandhra.

'Naidu-for-AP, Modi-for-nation' is the latest slogan of the party rank and file in Seemandhra.However, there is also a rider to this. The growing defections from Congress could be a reflection more on the pathetic state of affairs in the ruling party and lack of alternative.

The YSR Congress Party appears to have put up a "no vacancy" board for the potential defectors from the Congress as it is already full with leaders who had defected from the other parties in the past.

In Chittoor district, former Minister Galla Aruna Kumari joined the TDP along with her industrialist son Galla Jaydev, who is keen to contest from the Guntur Lok Sabha seat.

Another friend-turned-foe and former Deputy Speaker G Kutuhalamma joined the main opposition party on Monday and a large number of second-rung leaders too are eager to follow the suit.

In Kadapa, the home district of YSRCP president YS Jaganmohan Reddy, former MLA and one time staunch supporter of YSR's family N Varadarajula Reddy joined the TDP while former Minister DL Ravindra Reddy is in touch with TDP leaders and is expected to take the plunge in a day or two.

In Anantapur, senior leader J C Diwakar Reddy and his brother J C Prabhakar Reddy are all set to join the TDP. Their associate and MLC N Tippeswamy joined the party on Monday.

In Kurnool, former Ministers TG Venkatresh, E Pratapa Reddy and Shilpa Mohan Redy, along with few more leaders joined TDP.In Nellore, former minister Adala Prabhakara Reddy who left TDP prior to 2009 assembly elections returned to the parent party.

In the adjoining Ongole district, to everybody's surprise Magunta Srinivasula Reddy and Guntur district strong man and Congress sitting MP Rayapati Sambasiva Rao are ready to join the yellow party. Former Minister Makineni Pedda Rattaiah, also from Guntur and a couple of other leaders already joined TDP.

In Krishna district, no prominent leader has so far switched loyalty but former Minister K Parthasarathi is in touch and sources say it is just a matter of time before he shifts the loyalty.

In East Godavari district too, many prominent leaders are joining TDP. Former Minister Thota Narasimham joined today. In West Godavari district, there is a talk that five time Congress MP and Union Minister Kavuri Sambasiva Rao might join the party, though he ruled out the possibility for now.

In Visakhapatnam, former Minister and Anakapalli MLA Ganta Srinivasa Rao and four other Congress MLAs switched over to TDP and in the neighboring Vizianagaram district, another former Minister Satrucharla Vijaya Ramaraju along with his MLA nephew Janardhan Thatraj joined the party.

The TDP sources say that many more people would join the party in the days ahead. In fact, some YSRCP leaders are also believed to in touch with the party leadership.

However, heavy influx of leaders is creating problems for the seniors in the party who are aspiring for tickets for the coming elections. Former Ministers Kodela Siva Prasad and Ayyanna Patrudu raised their objections in this regard.

These days, NTR Trust Bhavan, the Telugu Desam Party headquarters, is increasingly looking like Gandhi Bhavan, the Congress headquarters, with the daily flow of defectors from the ruling party.

here has been a steady stream of Congress MLAs, former ministers and other leaders from Seemandhra joining the TDP ahead of the elections.

With the Congress facing a certain rout in the region due to public anger over the division of the State, all senior legislators are queuing up before the TDP to secure their political future.

However, TDP is facing similar desertions from its ranks in Telangana where its leaders are gravitating towards Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).

As far as Seemandhra is concerned, TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu has emerged as the flavor of the season. Even his bitter critics in the past are now looking at him as the saviour of their political careers. In the last few days, there has been a heavy influx of Congress leaders into the TDP.

On Monday, there was a large exodus of the Congress leaders from Seemandhra into the TDP.

Among the prominent Congress leaders who joined TDP in the presence of Naidu were: Gangadhara Nellore MLA G Kuthuhalamma, former MLA and Tirupati Urban Development Authority chairman N Venkataramana, D Dorababu, Thippeswamy, Shankar Yadav, P Hariprasad, Anna Ramachandraiah, Veeramachineni Prasad and others.

The leaders from across the 13 districts of Seemandhra are vying with one another to join the TDP as they see no future for the Congress. Several long-time foes of Naidu who have never even thought of sailing with Naidu have also joined Telugu Desam and praised Naidu as a visionary.