Ongole: In a serious setback to the TD in Prakasam district, party senior leader and MLC Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy submitted his resignation to the primary membership of the party to party president Kala Venkat Rao on Thursday. He also faxed his resignation to his post as TD national vice-president to party chief Nara Chandrababu Naidu and put down papers for his MLC post too.
Speaking to media persons at his office in Ongole on Thursday, Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy said that he took the decision to quit the TD as per the wishes of the followers of his family. Referring to his family's close ties with late Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy's family, he said that he intended to join the YSRC as people are aspiring for the YSR rule. He recalled the services of his family to people in every nook and corner of Prakasam district after his brother, the late Magunta Subbarami Reddy was elected as Parliament member from the Ongole segment in 1991.
He said that his sister in law Magunta Parvatamma also represented the segment as MP and in all, they had contested 6 times for Parliament and two times for Assembly between 1991 and 2014 from the Ongole Lok Sabha segment.
Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy said he felt sad at leaving the Congress in 2014, pointing to the bond his family has with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka.
He added that Chandrababu Naidu was also very affectionate towards them besides former Union minister Sujana Chowdary and AP forest minister Sidda Raghava Rao apart from TD legislators and party leaders.
He attributed his recent meeting with Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan at Ongole to their relationship with the Chiranjeevi family for four decades since their father Konidela Venkat Rao's time. Maintaining that Magunta is a brand of Prakasam people, he said he would contest only from Ongole though their roots were in Nellore.
