Suresh Prabhu steams into Andhra Pradesh on way to Rajya Sabha

Hyderabad: In a new turn of events, the BJP central leadership has decided to field Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister, M. Venkaiah Naidu from Rajasthan instead of Karnataka from which he was elected thrice to the Rajya Sabha previously. It decided to field Union commerce minister, Nirmala Sitaraman from Karnataka instead of AP.

Union railway minister Suresh Prabhu has been asked to file papers from AP.
The Karnataka BJP State unit had unanimously recommended Mr Venkaiah Naidu’s name for a fourth term from the state. However, Mr Venkaiah Naidu told party president Amit Shah that this time he would like to represent a northern state since there were requests from those states.

Sources said Mr Venkaiah Naidu was upset by criticism from certain quarters that he was favouring AP as Union minister instead of Karnataka. It is said that after coming to know of Mr Venkaiah Naidu’s name being cleared from Rajasthan, even a few Karnataka Congress leaders like M.V. Rajasekharan and D.K. Shiva Kumar had sent messages expressing shock and requested him to continue his representation from Karnataka.

Sources said Mr Venkaiah Naidu is the only Rajya Sabha member who has spent 100 per cent of his MPLADS funds in Karnataka besides bringing several developmental projects to Karnataka.

He reportedly told his associates that the criticism that he did everything for AP or or he had not done anything for Karnataka “pained” him. As far as Rajasthan is concerned there will be less burden on him.

Mr Amit Shah who was here on Sunday told the media that relations between the BJP and Telugu Desam in AP were intact and will continue without any hitches. He said BJP has already placed its request with TD president and AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu to spare one seat to BJP.

Mr Suresh Prabhu’s name will be officially announced once the TD politburo meet endorses support for one seat to the BJP. Sources in the BJP Central Office disclosed that Mr Chandrababu Naidu told Mr Amit Shah that they ha a few problems regarding renomination of Ms Sitaraman as she could not do justice to the AP government’s  demands over the last two years.

Her style of functioning was not liked by Telugu Desam MPs in Delhi whenever they met her regarding demands from the state. This caused BJP to change its nominee and decide in favour of Mr Prabhu who represents Haryana in the Rajya Sabha and is due to retire on August 1. “I was told by party leadership to go to Bengaluru and file papers on Tuesday,’’ Ms Sitaraman told this newspaper.

Speaking from Delhi she said she would be reaching Bengaluru on Monday evening and would meet all the party legislators before filing papers the next day. She said she spoken to Mr Chandrababu Naidu over phone and thanked him for the cooperation of the last two years when she represented the state.