Former YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) leader from Gannavaram Assembly constituency, Yarlagadda Venkata Rao met TDP national president N. Chandrababu Naidu at the latter’s residence in Hyderabad on August 20 (Sunday), two days after announcing his exit from the ruling party as his efforts to patch up with its high-command failed.
Mr. Venkat Rao had been at loggerheads with the YSRC leadership ever since his arch-rival TDP MLA Vallabhaneni Vamsi Mohan, to whom he lost in 2019 elections, crossed over into the YSRCP.
Speaking to the media, Mr. Venkat Rao said that he had expressed his intention to join the TDP, and pointed out that he was sidelined after the TDP MLA threw his weight behind the YSRCP.
Mr. Venkat Rao said that it was an indisputable fact that the credit for developing the undivided Andhra Pradesh went to Mr. Naidu and it was what impressed him the most. He said that he would contest the upcoming elections from whichever constituency he was ordered to go to, be it Gannavaram or Gudivada or even Vijayawada.