Vijayawada: Kapu strongman Vangaveeti Ranga’s son Mr Vangaveeti Radhakrishna is expected to join the TD in a day or two. He is likely to be fielded from either Machilipatnam or Narasaraopeta Lok Sabha constituency. Machilipatnam has a sizeable Kapu vote bank and for the Kapus Mr Radhakrish-na’s father, Mr Ranga is an iconic figure in the State.
Alleging humiliation and neglect, Mr Radhakrishna had quit the YSRC sometime ago and has been inactive in politics. While there were reports that he would join the TD immediately and get an MLC post, he kept calm and did not make a move. Meanwhile, TD chief Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu filled vacant seats of MLCs with other candidates.
It is learnt that former Vijayawada MP Lagadapati Rajagopal has been lobbying for Mr Radhakrishna. He is also said to have met the CM late on Monday night.
TD MLCs T.D. Janardan and Bachula Arjunudu had visited Mr Vangaveeti Radhakrishna in January, days after he quit the YSRC and formally invited him to join the party. Though there were reports that Mr Radha-krishna would join the TD, it was for the first time that there was any open invite from the ruling party. Both leaders held talks with Mr Radhakrishna, but there was no official commitment from him then.
He quit the YSRC after the party leadership asked him to pick either Vijayawada east or Machilipatnam Lok Sabha segments,instead of Vijayawada central segment which he was keen to contest from.
