Hyderabad/ Vijayawada: The Jana Sena suffered a major setback as two of its key leaders, former IAS officer Thota Chandrasekhar and former minister Ravela Kishore Babu, decided to join the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), which is making its foray into Andhra Pradesh.
BRS sources said that the high command would be appointing Thota Chandrasekhar as the party’s head for Andhra Pradesh.
Another AP leader, Chintala Partha Sarathi, who was formerly a Jana Sena member, will also join from the BJP, as BRS president and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao looks to expand the BRS in neighbouring states to achieve the national party status.
Sarathi, a retired IRS officer, contested the Lok Sabha polls as the Jana Sena candidate for Anakapalle in 2019, but lost to the YSRC candidate.
Another key leader to join the BRS on Monday is Thummalasetty Jaya Prakash Narayan, sources said. He had joined Praja Rajyam in 2008, and contested the Anantapur Urban Assembly seat, but lost the election.
All the leaders will be inducted into the BRS ranks by Chandrashekar Rao at a programme at Telangana Bhavan on Monday afternoon.
Political sources said that former bureaucrat Rammohan Rao was interested in joining the BRS and that there may be some development in that regard shortly.
Observers said that by inducting Thota Chandrasekhar, the BRS has devised a strategy to garner the Kapu community votes, which has a strong presence in Andhra Pradesh. They said that making Thota the AP chief would also help induct more Kapu leaders into the BRS.
Thota Chandrasekhar was a member of the YSRC in 2014 and, after losing the Eluru Lok Sabha poll, joined the Jana Sena. He was a close friend of JS party chief Pawan Kalyan and actively took part in the works, making his exit a heavy blow to the party, sources said.
Kishore Babu won the Prathipadu seat in the 2014 elections and worked as a minister in the TD government, but quit the party in 2019 and joined Jana Sena, and then the BJP.
Senior AP-TRS leader Konijeti Adinarayana said that Thota Chandrasekhar, Kishore Babu and former IRS officer Pardhasarathy will be joining BRS. He said that soon, the BRS will open its AP office in Vijayawada, which will help the party garner public support.
