Ongole: The Congress suffered a big blow with its loyalist Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy joining the Telugu Desam on Tuesday.
The Magunta family is synonymous for the Congress in Prakasam district as they were associated with the Congress since 1990, and a majority of the voters of the constituency trusted the Magunta family since the last 25 years.
TDP leaders are hoping that the entry of Srinivasulu Reddy into the party would be advantageous to them. He is contesting from the Ongole Lok Sabha seat on a TDP ticket.
Mr Srinivasulu Reddy joined the TDP with his followers on Tuesday at Hyderabad. The family members of Magunta have won Ongole MP seat five times, and Mr Srinivasulu Reddy won the seat three times. The Magunta family originally belongs to Nellore district, but in 1990, M Subbarami Reddy came to Ongole, and started serving people through the Magunta trust.
He also contested elections but was gunned down by Naxalites. Later, Subbarami Reddy's wife Parvatamma won the Ongole LS seat.
