Former Rajya Sabha MP Vemireddy Prabhakar Reddy formally joined the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) along with his wife Vemireddy Prashanti in the presence of party chief Nara Chandrababu Naidu here on Saturday.
At a huge public meeting organised by the party to welcome the industrialist-turned-social worker into the party fold, Mr. Naidu lashed out at Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and the ruling YSRCP for hurting the ‘self-respect’ of the Vemireddy couple, known for their social and charitable activities for decades, and forcing them to leave the party.
“The TDP will treat you with due respect and accord you the status you deserve,” Mr. Naidu assured the couple, after adorning them with the party shawl as a mark of their induction into the party. He also recalled how former Nellore Rural MLA Kotamreddy Sridhar Reddy, Udayagiri MLA Mekapati Chandrasekhar Reddy and Venkatagiri MLA Anam Ramanarayana Reddy faced similar humiliation by the YSRCP.
Taking exception to Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy behaving in an “autocratic manner”, the TDP chief wondered how the Chief Minister could become so intolerable to suggestions made by his own party members, and turning vengeful against them instead of being thankful for their advice.
“Nellore is all set to show him his rightful place,” he said. He also lashed out at the YSRCP cadre for attempting to physically attack former Minister Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy in his own constituency recently, besides resorting to vendetta politics against another former Minister P. Narayana.
With the YSRCP announcing V. Vijaya Sai Reddy as the Nellore LS candidate, Mr. Naidu appealed to the voters to welcome him with queries on the ‘loot’ resorted to in Visakhapatnam.
Mr. Naidu also formally invited Roop Kumar Yadav, Deputy Mayor of Nellore Municipal Corporation, into the party fold and recalled his prolonged fight for justice within the ruling party.
As Nellore voters gave ten out of ten seats to the YSRCP in 2019, Mr. Naidu expressed confidence of wresting all of them from the ruling party, with the exodus of leaders and cadre from various levels into the TDP.
