Andhra poll winds set revolving doors in motion, few open towards Congress yet

AS THE countdown begins to elections in Andhra Pradesh, which will see simultaneous polls to the Assembly and Lok Sabha, the season of political leaders switching parties has begun.

Among the most prominent leaders to have made the move so far is two-time Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MP from Vijayawada Kesineni Srinivas, popularly known as Nani, who quit his Lok Sabha seat as well as the party, and joined the ruling YSRCP in the second week of January.

Soon after, he was declared the YSRCP candidate from Vijayawada.

Nani was upset over him and his daughter K Swetha, a corporator of Vijayawada Municipal Corporation, who also quit her post and from the TDP, not being given enough importance in the party.

“I cannot continue in the TDP any longer… I appreciate the support that Chandrababu (Naidu) and Lokesh gave me, but since last one year or so, my father and I have been made to feel that we are no longer needed in the party,’’ Swetha said.

Another reason for Nani’s anger reportedly was the seeming preference of Naidu for his brother Kesineni Srikanth. Now, Nani may end up facing Srikanth from the Vijayawada seat in the Lok Sabha, which could become a three-way race with the BJP’s Y S Chowdary also eyeing the constituency.

Later this week, in a big boost to actor-politician K Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena Party (JSP), Machilipatnam MP V Balashowry, who has quit the YSRCP, will be joining the party. The JSP, which has an alliance with the TDP, is looking to reap the Kapu vote in Machilipatnam, and Balashowry may help secure that for the party.

Balashowry said he had got the message that the YSRCP did not intend to renominate him from the seat, and his complaint that local party MLAs were not cooperating with him had gone unheard. “They even