Former Union minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Daggubati Purandeshwari is said to be repenting for not joining the YSR Congress party before the recent general elections to Andhra Pradesh assembly and Lok Sabha held on April 11.
Purandeshwari contested on BJP ticket from Visakhapatnam Lok Sabha constituency and faced a tough contest from Telugu Desam Party, Jana Sena and YSR Congress party.
Though she thought she would get a huge number of votes of North Indians settled in Visakhapatnam, who are generally believed to be pro-BJP, it appears these votes were split between her and Jana Sena candidate V V Lakshminarayana.
Her nephew and TDP candidate M Sri Bharat also split the votes that went to BJP candidate K Hari Babu last time.
In the four-cornered contest, sources say, the YSR Congress candidate M V V Satyanarayana might win the seat, though he is not a favourite of the people because of his bad reputation in the constituency.
Sources close to Purandeshwari now say she should have joined the YSRC along with her husband Daggubati Venkateshwar Rao and son Hitesh Chenchuram before the elections.
In fact, YSRC president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy sent several messages to Purandeshwari asking her to join his party and did not announce the candidate’s name for Vizag parliamentary seat for a long time.
But, Purandeshwari was forced to stay back in the BJP as she was entrusted with an important responsibility in the party – she was the chairman of BJP state manifesto committee in Andhra Pradesh. The BJP leaders in the state also insisted that she continued in the party
“Had she joined the YSRC, she would have had it easy in Visakhapatnam, as the BJP did not have any other candidates to fight the Lok Sabha elections. If she wins the seat, she will have a bright future in the BJP and if she does not, she might consider joining the YSRC,” sources said.