Senior Telugu Desam Party leader from Srikakulam district Kala Venkat Rao, who had till recently been the president of party’s Andhra Pradesh unit, is most likely to join the Bharatiya Janata Party sooner or later.
According to reports doing rounds in a section of media, BJP state president Somu Veerraju is planning to go to the residence of Kala Venkat Rao on Saturday and formally invite him into the party. If the TDP leader takes the bait of Veerraju, it is going to be a definitely big shock for the TDP.
Apparently, Kala Venkat Rao has been unhappy with the party leadership even before he stepped down from the post of the TDP Andhra unit president following the party’s defeat in the 2019 elections.
He was also not happy with Naidu making Kinjarapu Atchan Naidu, his junior in the district, as the party president in Andhra.
Except making an occasional statement criticising the YSR Congress party, he had not been actively participating in any activity of the party activities. May be, he is waiting for the right opportunity to make his next political moves.
On the other hand, the BJP has been looking for strong leaders to strengthen its base in Andhra. Particularly, Somu Veerraju is laying trap for Kapu leaders, who are disgruntled with both the TDP as well as YSR Congress party.
Since the BJP has entered into an alliance with the Jana Sena Party, Veerraju hopes that it would help consolidation of Kapu vote bank. His consultation with Kala Venkat Rao is said to be part of this strategy.
Interestingly, Veerraju is also expected to go the residences of Kapu strongman and former minister Mudragada Padmanabham from East Godavari and another former TDP minister Padala Aruna from Gajapathinagaram in Vizianagaram district who has been inactive in the party.
Mudragada will be a big catch for the BJP and it will definitely help the party in strengthening the Kapu vote bank. Similarly, Padala’s entry will be another added advantage to the party.
In any case, TDP’s loss will be a big gain for the BJP in Andhra!