Member of Parliament from Narsapuram K. Raghu Ramakrishna Raju, who had been a thorn in the flesh for the ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) for over four years, was crestfallen the other day as a chance to contest in the general elections on behalf of one of the opposition parties appeared to elude him.
But, he might finally get the opportunity to fight against the YSRCP as a TDP candidate from Undi Assembly constituency in West Godavari district, where the YSRCP is fielding P.V.L. Narasimha Raju, a leader from the same community (Kshatriya) as Mr. Ramakrishna Raju’s.
The MP ended what he called his unsavoury association with the YSRCP in February, but has not joined any party till date.
TDP sources told The Hindu that the proposal to field Mr. Ramakrishna Raju from Undi was being seriously considered and a decision would be taken in a few days by the leaders of the TDP-BJP-Jana Sena Party (JSP) alliance.
Mr. Ramakrishna Raju, a native of Vijayawada, defeated TDP’s V.V. Siva Rama Raju in the race for Narsapuram Lok Sabha seat by an approximate majority of 32,000 votes in the 2019 elections, but he went on to openly criticise some major policy decisions, including the one to have three capitals, taken by Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.
His enmity with the YSRCP reached a flashpoint with his arrest by the CID in a sedition case in 2021. He was allegedly beaten up during his custody and had to knock on the doors of the Supreme Court for justice after his bail plea was dismissed by the A.P. High Court. The apex court had granted him bail the same year.
The YSRCP’s attempts in the due course to have Mr. Ramakrishna Raju suspended by the Lok Sabha Speaker for indulging in anti-party activities failed.
On the other hand, the rebel YSRCP MP filed a petition in the Telangana High Court seeking cancellation of the bail given to Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy in the quid pro quo cases (it was dismissed) and another petition in the A.P. High Court late last year for a court-monitored CBI probe into “government corruption and its illegal decisions.”
