For the first time after nearly three years of coming to power, the ruling YSR Congress party in Andhra Pradesh is all set to witness a reverse migration into the Telugu Desam Party.
Senior YSRC leader from Gannavaram assembly constituency Yarlagadda Venkat Rao is getting ready to defect to the Telugu Desam Party, apparently having felt that he is being sidelined in the party due to hegemony of sitting MLA Vallabhaneni Vamsi.
Yarlagadda contested on YSRCP ticket in 2019 assembly elections from Gannavaram, but lost to Vallabhaneni Vamsi, who won the seat on the TDP ticket. But within months after the TDP lost power in the state, Vamsi defected to the YSRC.
Since then, Vamsi has been dominating the YSRC in the constituency and has been making aggressive attacks on the TDP and its president N Chandrababu Naidu. At the same time, he has also started crushing his rivals within the YSRC.
Though Jagan has promised Yarlagadda to take care of his political interests it did not happen.
Another YSRC leader Dutta Ramachandra Rao, who was originally made in-charge of Gannavaram was also sidelined, after Jagan declared Vamsi as the party candidate for the next elections.
Initially, Yarlagadda and Dutta put up a stiff fight against Vamsi and there were instances of both the groups indulging in attacks on each other, but after Jagan supporting Vamsi, his rivals have gone silent.
Now, Yarlagadda seems to have come to the conclusion that there is no alternative but to join the TDP for his political survival. At the same time, Naidu, too, needs a strong leader in Gannavaram.
Though he was thinking of making Devineni Avinash as in-charge of Gannavaram, he, too, defected to the YSRC. Later, he reportedly proposed to shift Gadde Rammohan Rao to Gannavaram, but he, too, has not evinced interest.
Now that Yarlagadda is joining the TDP, Naidu will have a strong contender to defeat Vamsi in the next elections, say sources.