Opposition parties in AP in turmoil

One-year-old Praja Rajyam Party of Mega Star Chiranjeevi and Telangana Rashtra Samiti are probably facing the worst crisis with notable leaders deserting the outfits in quick succession. And, the trend is likely to continue over the next few days.

It is inarguably the TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao who got the biggest shock with his fellow MP and party secretary-general Vijayasanthi suddenly turning hostile.

Officially, the Medak MP is still with the TRS but it is only a matter of days before she formally bids adieu, as the turn of events suggest.

First, Vijayasanthi met Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy early this week in her official capacity and later hobnobbed with rebel TRS leaders, much to the chagrin of the TRS leadership.

Her meetings with Congress MLA T Jayaprakash Reddy and later with expelled TRS ex-MP A Narendra have forced the party to issue her a show-cause notice. "She has not responded to our notice," party general secretary S Madhusudanachari said.

"How could she met a Congress MLA, that too who has been branded by us as a Telangana traitor," TRS senior leader Nayini Narasimha Reddy questioned.

Chandrasekhar Rao, meanwhile, constituted the TRS politburo today but conspicuously excluded Vijayasanthi, who is the head of the political affairs committee.

"We are awaiting her reaction to initiate necessary further action," a senior TRS leader said, indicating that they were ready to expel her from the party.

A formal decision is likely to be taken at the TRS politburo meeting here tomorrow.
Vijayasanthi, sources close to her said, was in no mood to resign to her Lok Sabha membership irrespective of the fallout of her current face-off with the TRS.

In the PRP camp, meanwhile, there are jitters over reports that senior leader T Devender Goud was on his way back to his parent Telugu Desam Party.

Goud, along with another leader E Peddi Reddy, has already prepared ground for his re-entry into the TDP with which he sailed for more than 25 years.

It will undoubtedly be a big blow for Chiranjeevi but Devender Goud, a former home minister, stands to gain little politically by re-joining the TDP, political observers point out.

Devender Goud's political clout has clearly waned what with his defeat in both Lok Sabha and Assembly elections this year.

He can't expect to be the so-called number-two in the TDP again as there are many senior leaders within the party who are opposed to his re-entry, a politburo member of the TDP remarked.

But, TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu is moving strategically on the Goud issue and holding parleys with senior leaders on re-admitting the leaders who deserted the TDP in the last one year.

The TDP extended an open invitation to senior leaders like K Kala Venkata Rao, Tammineni Seetaram and others who switched over to the PRP last year to rejoin the parent party and is awaiting a response from them.

But what has become a cause for worry to the TDP leadership is speculation that some of its MLAs may fall prey to the Congress allurements.

Already, the Congress succeeded in trapping Kovur MLA N Prasanna Kumar Reddy while the TDP believes that efforts to ensnare some others are tacitly being carried out.

The Praja Rajyam Party is also facing a similar predicament with speculation that some of its MLAs are on their way out of the party. But five MLAs convened a press conference at the party office today to trash such reports and affirm their loyalty to the PRP and Chiranjeevi.