Hyderabad: The Telugu Desam leadership expects an exodus from the Congress and the YSRC, especially in the Seemandhra region, after the Assembly Session.
If senior TD leader Yanamala Ramakrishnudu is to be believed, at least 40 to 50 MLAs and three ministers of the Kiran Kumar Reddy Cabinet have been in touch with the TD leadership to join the party.
“There will be a dramatic change in the political scenario after January 23. Many MLAs are waiting for the outcome of the Assembly Session, which has taken up the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill 2013, and what Chief Minister, Kiran Kumar Reddy, will do. If the government goes ahead with the Bill, many MLAs will join the Telugu Desam,”?Ramakrishnudu told this newspaper.
Asked to name some of the ministers and MLAs who had approached the party, he said it was known in the party circles.
Among the ministers, the names of minor irrigation minister T.G. Venkatesh, law and courts minister, E. Pratap Reddy and infrastructure and investments minister Ghanta Srinivas Rao figure prominently.
Ramakrishnudu further said that the Telugu Desam’s credibility was intact and many MLAs, including four from his home district East Godavari, were planning to join the party.
“We certainly welcome those who intend to join the party, but we are also taking care that existing party leaders do not feel discomfiture due to new entrants or create problems for tickets,”?he added.
Exuding confidence that the Telugu Desam would return to power in 2014, he said that the YSRC bubble had burst and there were no takers for the party due to the corruption tag.
“Except in some newspapers, the party is nowhere. Corruption will be one of the core issues in the 2014 polls. In such a situation, neither leaders nor voters will back a tainted party like the YSRC. Its image has dipped after the jail and bail of Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy,” he said.
