In setback for TDP, another Andhra lawmaker shifts loyalties to YSR Congress party

The beleaguered Telugu Desam Party in Andhra Pradesh received yet another setback on Saturday when another lawmaker Vasupalli Ganesh from Visakhapatnam shifted loyalties to the ruling YSR Congress party.

The TDP legislator representing Visakhapatnam (South) assembly constituency met YSRC president and chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy at the latter’s camp office in Tadepalli in Amaravati in the afternoon and extended his support to the ruling party.

Ganesh, however, did not officially join the YSRC, apparently to avoid being disqualified from his assembly membership under the Anti-Defection Law. However, he got his two sons admitted into the YSRC.

A businessman by profession, Ganesh entered politics in 2009 and unsuccessfully contested the assembly elections on a TDP ticket. However, he won the elections in 2014 and 2019 and had been loyal to the TDP for a long time.

However, for the last few months, Ganesh has been differing with the stand taken by party president and former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu opposing the shifting of administrative capital of the state from Amaravati to Visakhapatnam.

Speaking to reporters later, Ganesh described Jagan as a dynamic leader and said he was confident that the state would achieve progress under the latter’s leadership. “The welfare schemes launched by the Jagan government have been attracting people and I don’t think the TDP can make any headway in the future,” he said.

The MLA hoped that he would be able to take up several developmental work in his constituency during the Jagan regime. “We shall strive to win in the Mayoral elections and present it as a gift to Jagan,” he said.

Ganesh is the fourth MLA to leave the TDP in the last 15 months. Earlier, Gannavaram MLA Vallabhaneni Vamsi Mohan and Guntur (West) MLA Maddali Giridhar also distanced themselves from the TDP and announced their support to the YSRC.

With this, the strength of the TDP in the 175-member assembly has come down to 19. Technically, however, the strength of the TDP remains 23, as the three MLAs did not officially quit the TDP to avoid getting disqualified.

All the three defected MLAs have been allocated separate seats in the assembly by Speaker Tammineni Sitaram, following their request. Ganesh is also likely to follow the same procedure.

In the last few months, several senior leaders like MLCs Dokka Manikya Varaprasada Rao, Pothula Sunitha and D Sivanath Reddy, former deputy chairman of legislative Council S V Satish Reddy, former minister P Ramasubba Reddy, former MLAs Panchakarla Ramesh Babu, Kadiri Babu Rao, Thota Trimurthulu Beeda Mastan Rao and S A Rahman and former MLC Jupudi Prabhakar Rao, had quit the party and joined the YSRC.