Industrialist Yarlagadda Venkatrao is in no mood to continue in the ruling YSR Congress. It is said that he would soon be joining the opposition TDP.
Venkatrao, an NRI, had returned to the state before the 2019 general election and joined the YSR Congress. He contested on the YSR Congress ticket from Gannavaram Assembly constituency in Krishna district and lost to TDP’s Vallabhaneni Vamsi Mohan.
However, with Vamsi becoming the associate member of the YSR Congress after the 2019 elections, Venkatrao became inactive in the party. Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy held three rounds of meetings with disgruntled Venkatrao and had even made him the chairman of the Krishna District Cooperative Central Bank.
In spite of this, Venkatrao could not compromise with the leadership of Vallabhaneni Vamsi. Moreover, there are enough indications from the party leadership that Vamsi would be the party candidate for the 2024 general election. This had almost closed the door for Venkatrao to contest once again.
Even if the ticket is denied, Venkatrao is expecting Jagan Mohan Reddy to offer him an MLC seat. He had sent feelers to Jagan Mohan Reddy making his mind clear. However, there was no response from the chief minister till date.
Following this, Venkatrao is holding a series of meetings with his supporters in every village of Gannavaram Assembly constituency. Sources say that he had made up his mind to leave the YSR Congress and join the TDP.
According to the information available, Venkatrao would join the party in the presence of its general secretary Nara Lokesh, who is on Yuva Galam padayatra. The padayatra is likely to enter Krishna district on August 19. It is to be seen if he would join the TDP and seek its ticket for the next election.
The TDP too has no suitable candidate for the Gannavaram seat after Vamsi’s exit. Though the party had appointed BC leader Batchula Arjunudu as incharge, his sudden death left the party with no choice so far. Venkatrao, if joins the party, would be the right candidate as there is sympathy for him among the people as he lost the battle in 2019 with a low margin of 990 votes against Vamsi.
