Former minister and Telugu Desam Party legislator from Visakhapatnam (north) Ganta Srinivasa Rao on Thursday put an end to the speculations that he is going to quit the party and join the YSR Congress party or the Bharatiya Janata Party.
He indicated that he will continue in the party, at least for now. Reacting to the speculations over his future plans of action after a long gap, Ganta told reporters that the reports of his defection to other parties were the creation of media.
“I am not going to change the party. I will hold the constituency review meeting very soon under the directions of party president N Chandrababu Naidu. Once the delimitation of wards is completed, we shall appoint strong leaders for the district,” he said.
He, however, did not give any clarity as to why he had been silent all these days and keeping away from the party activities.
“The media has been weaving stories around me right from the days of elections and spreading the rumours that I would be changing the party. I have already told you that if I take any such decision, I would reveal to the media well in advance. Anyway, I am thankful to the media for keeping me in the news regularly,” he said.
There were reports that Ganta made a desperate attempt to join the YSRC and sent messages to chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy. Though he reportedly got a green signal from Jagan, his rivals in district like Avanti Srinivas and others stonewalled his attempts and ensured that he has no entry in the party.
Subsequently, Ganta is learnt to have made attempts to join the BJP. The negotiations are said to be still on.
The former minister admitted to have met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but not in the recent past.
“The photo that went viral in the media belonged to Modi’s regime in Gujarat as the chief minister, when I was a minister in combined Andhra Pradesh. I keep meeting several politicians from various parties at various functions. You cannot link them to politics,” he explained.