YS Jagan’s close friend and a key player during the famed Praja Sankalpa Yatra Mandapalli Ramprasad is all set to join the TDP. Ramprasad was a key member of the YSRCP in Kadapa district and was from Rayachoti assembly constituency. He was also incharge of the logistics during the year-long yatra of YS Jagan in 2018, ahead of the assembly elections.

However, Ramprasad and MLA Gadikota Srikanth Reddy, another close associate of YS Jagan, did not see eye-to-eye on many issues. Srikanth Reddy, a two-time MLA, has been accused by many of trying to scuttle Ramprasad’s ascent in the YSRCP. Of late, Ramprasad was a disgruntled man. Recently he has announced that he has sent his resignation from the YSRCP. Sources said that he has also stopped attending party programmes for quite some time.

Recently, he met TDP supremo Chandrababu Naidu. Sources say that Chandrababu Naidu not only welcomed him into the party and asked him to focus his energies on Rayachoti. He asked Ramprasad to strengthen the TDP in Rayachoti. If all goes well, Ramprasad is likely to join the TDP formally. Interestingly, Ramprasad is known to have a deep understanding of the YSRCP strategies and could be helpful for the TDP in the days to come.

Kadapa is among the four districts, where the TDP drew a blank in the 2019 assembly elections. The YSRCP had won every seat in the district. Ramprasad, who has a grasp of the YSRCP strategies might prove beneficial to the TDP in future.