Andhra Pradesh: Industrialist Jay Galla joins TDP

Industrialist Galla Jayadev on Saturday formally entered politics by joining the Telugu Desam Party.

"Only Chandrababu Naidu can develop Seemaandhra. I will fully cooperate with him in the endeavour," Jayadev said.

His mother and former minister Galla Aruna Kumari also accompanied Jay Galla, as he is better known, into the TDP by severing her decades-old ties with the Congress.

"The Congress has pushed us to the streets and forced us to leave the party," Kumari said.

TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu formally welcomed the mother-son duo into the party at a function at NTR Bhavan today.

Jay, currently vice-chairman and managing director of Amara Raja Batteries Limited, is expected to be the TDP's candidate for Lok Sabha from Guntur in coastal Andhra.

The Gallas are from Chittoor district, the bastion of TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu, and Aruna Kumari was elected to the state Assembly from Chandragiri three times. She served as a minister under different chief ministers.

Jay was the political manager for his mother for many years and was involved in social campaigns for women and others in their district.

Through their family's Rajanna Trust, Jay launched rural development initiatives, particularly aimed at bettering the economic conditions of farmers through micro-irrigation schemes.

He sought to make his political entry by contesting the Assembly by-election from Tirupati in 2012 but the Congress denied him the opportunity. Subsequently, he moved towards the TDP and was welcomed by Chandrababu Naidu.

Jay is married to Padmavathi, daughter of Telugu superstar Krishna who is from the Guntur district. A graduate in political science and economics from the University of Illinois, Jay has also served as CII's AP unit chairman.