TDP MLA Hanumanth Shinde, Congress legislator Rajanna Dora jump boat, join KCR, Jagan

Hyderabad: One Congress and one Telugu Desam legislator shifted loyalties on Sunday and formally joined the YSR Congress and the TRS respectively.

Jukkal TD MLA Hanumanth Shinde met TRS party president K. Chandrasekhar Rao at Telangana Bhavan and formally joined the party. He explained that the changing stand of TD president N. Chandrababu Naidu on Telangana led to his joining the TRS.

Shinde said that after the Congress Working Committee’s July 30 decision to carve out Telangana, Naidu had yielded to pressures from the TD’s Seemandhra leaders and started opposing division.

He also criticised Naidu for publicly declaring in Guntur that he was responsible for stalling the Telangana proposal during the NDA regime, and alleged that he had encouraged party legislator Payyavula Kesav to file a case against Telangana formation in the Supreme Court.

Shinde questioned Naidu for allowing party MPs to move a no-confidence motion against the the Congress government at the Centre for declaring the separate state.

“Due to these acts of Mr Naidu, it has become difficult for the Telangana TD leaders to tour villages, where we are asked whether TD is for Telangana or for United AP,” he said.

Welcoming Shinde, Rao said that the people of Telangana don’t want anything from the Seemandhra region since all that they need is available in their region. It is, however, the Seemandhra leaders who are demanding major reso-urces from Telangana, he said. “This is not fair. The Telangana demand was generated because of the exploitation by Seemaandhra leaders,” Rao said.

Congress legislator from Salur P. Rajanna Dora joined the YSRC in the presence of party president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, along with some of his supporters, including former municipal council chairman of Salur Eswara Rao.

Former Congress legislator from Bobbili, Sujaya Krishna Ranga Rao, who is now in the YSRC, was instrumental in his induction.

Meanwhile, Jagan Mohan Reddy has been making changes to his choice of candidates for various posts. Former MLAs from Chittoor district,  Nara-yana Swamy and Man-ohar, said that they were not going to be the candidates.

Even party bigwig and former Nandyala MP, Bhuma Nagireddy, was asked to vacate the Nandyala LS seat to accommodate sitting Congress MP S.P.Y. Reddy who joined YSRC recently.

It is also presumed that along with former revenue minister, Dharmana Prasada Rao, five Congress MLAs will join the YSRC. “It’ll be a repeat of the same ca-ndidates for the same seats, with a change of party. But what will happen to existing lea-ders aspiring for tickets?” asked a leader.

Former IAS officer T. Chandrasekhar has been named for the Eluru LS seat, replacing Movva Anand who told Jagan Mohan Reddy that he could not bear the poll expenses.

Meanwhile, the Kurnool LS seat will be contested by Renuka, wife of Neelakantham, the owner of Meridian Schools, Hyderabad.

Potluri Vara Prasad of PVR Ventures is the LS candidate from Vijayawada. With the death of Kukkala Nageswara Rao, former Krishna ZP chairman, former MP Vallabhaneni Balasowri may be the chosen candidate.

Narni Srinivasa Rao, Junior NTR’s father-in-law is being promoted at Guntur.