Telugu Desam Rajya Sabha members desert party in Kadapa

Kadapa: The Telugu Desam had nominated five leaders to the Rajya Sabha from Kadapa district at different times but now, no one of them is with the party.

Two of them are not in active politics and of the the remaining three, one has joined the BJP, while one other is in the Congress and the other in the YSR Congress.

YSR Congress official spokesperson and party general secretary C.Ramachandraiah (CRC) was elected to the Rajya Sabha for two terms through the TD.

The chartered accountant-turned-politician,  CRC became close to the TD national president  and  former CM Chandrababu Naidu.

He served as the TD MP in the RS from April 3, 1998 to 2004 in the first term and in the second term, from June 22, 2004 to 2010.

However, he resigned from the post on January 22, 2009 and joined the Praja Rajyam Party.

He then contested for the Machilipatnam Parliamentary constituency but was  defeated. Later, he joined the Congress when the PRP was merged with the Congress and worked as a minister in N. Kiran Kumar Reddy’s Cabinet. At present, he is a state leader in the YSR Congress.

Narreddy Tulasi Reddy was nominated for Rajya Sabha on April 3, 1988. He worked for  one full term till April 2, 1994. Later, he joined the Congress party. He worked as the chairman of the 20-point programme in the Congress government. At present, he is working as the PCC vice president.

M.V. Mysura Reddy was also a senior leader in the Telugu Desam. He worked as the home minister in TD founder and former chief minister late N.T. Rama Rao’s government. He was nominated to the Rajya Sabha and was the MP from 2006 to 2012.

Later, he contested for the Kadapa Parliamentary constituency as a TD candidate but was defeated. Then he joined the YSR Congress. Now, he is not in active politics.

Singireddy Ramamuni Reddy was elected for the Rajya Sabha from the Telugu Desam and was the MP from April 3, 2000 to April 2, 2006.

In 1983, he was elected as the MP of Kadapa Parliamentary constituency on Congress ticket. Now, he is not in active politics.

The TD’s financial backbone Chinthakunta Muneyyagari Ramesh was elected as an MP for the second time but he switched loyalty to the BJP and this is a jolt to the party.

Mr Ramesh’s political stint began with the TD and he was very close to TD president N. Chandrababu Naidu. The TD nominated Mr Ramesh to the RS on May 2, 2014 and he continued as an MP till April 2, 2018.

Later, he got re-elected for a second term, which began on April 3, 2018 and would continue till April 2, 2024.

However, Mr Ramesh joined the BJP on Thursday along with three other MPs. This will be a major blow to the Telugu Desam in Rayalaseema.