Hyderabad: Guntur Congress MP Rayapati Sambasiva Rao, who has been sailing with the Congress for over three decades, quit the party on Monday and joined the Telugu Desam in the presence of its president N. Chandrababu Naidu.
He and scores of Congress leaders from Guntur, including his brother and former MLC Rayapati Srinivas, his son and former mayor of Guntur municipal corporation Rayapati Mohana Vamsi Krishna, joined the Telugu Desam.
“Only Mr Naidu has the vision and he alone can develop Seemandhra,” said Mr Sambasiva Rao, who was known to be rather soft with Mr Naidu even though his whole family has opposed the TDP.
Mr Naidu is expected to name Mr Rao as the candidate for the Narasaraopet Lok Sabha segment currently represented by the TDP’s Mr Modugula Venugopala Reddy.
According to reports, YSR Congress president Jagan Mohan Reddy decided to field noted industrialist Ayodhya Rami Reddy, cousin of Mr Venugopal Reddy, as his party’s candidate from the constituency and this has prompted Mr Naidu to look for a new candidate. Mr Rayapati Rao is a rich man with resources to take on the YSRC candidate.
Mr Venugopala Reddy, the sitting MP, is not too happy. When contacted, he said, “I asked Mr Naidu to convince me about Rayapati brothers joining the party. For a newcomer, that too from the Congress, joining the TDP today and being offered a seat held by me is something that cannot be accepted. There is no official announcement so far, so let it come and then I will react.”
He said that he had fought against bifurcation of the state in the Lok Sabha.
"I was attacked in the Lok Sabha by the Telangana MPs and the entire nation witnessed it. There is no valid reason why I should be denied a ticket now. If my cousin is going to contest from some other party, that cannot be a valid reason for denying ticket to me. There are several brothers contesting on different party tickets. Anyway, let the party president explain his reasons and convince me and then I will respond," the MP said.
