Hyderabad: In a major blow to former AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, four Rajya Sabha members switched over to the BJP on Thursday in a high-speed operation that was completed in just one hour.
Rajya Sabha members Y. Sujana Chowdary and C.M. Ramesh T.G. Venkatesh and Garikapati Mohan Rao joined the BJP in the presence of its working president J.P. Nadda.
Mr Venkatesh said they had informed Mr Naidu about their decision to join the BJP a week ago. He also said he was a former BJP Yuva Morcha member and it was a “homecoming” for him.
Mr Chowdary said that they had decided to join the BJP because that was the :mood of the nation”. The BJP is the single largest party with 75 members in the 245-strong Rajya Sabha.
Earlier the four TD MPs had met Prime Minister Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah to inform them about their joining the BJP.
TD’s spokesperson K. Rammohan Rao and other leaders informed Mr Naidu who is vacationing abroad with his family, of the developments. His reaction, they said, was that the crisis is not new and TD leaders and workers have nothing to worry about. He told them, "In the interests of the state we fought the BJP and NDA government for special category status for AP. We have sacrificed Central ministers for the sake of special status.”
TD general secretary Nara Lokesh discussed the development with the state TD president K. Kala Venkat Rao on the phone.
TD's Lok Sabha members Galla Jayadev and K. Rammohan Naidu met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla at his office. They declined to reveal details of their discussion with the Speaker.
