Ex-MLA Gurunath likely to join TDP on November 30

Anantapur: Die-hard loyalist of late Y S Rajasekhar Reddy as well as Y S Jaganmohan Reddy and ex-MLA Gurunath Reddy is all set to join the Telugu Desam Party, thanks to the lobbying done by MP Diwakar Reddy, as part of his strategy to replace sitting MLA Prabhakar Choudhury. He is likely to be admitted into the party on November 30 at Amaravati in the presence of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.

Gurunath Reddy has been keeping aloof from all YSRCP activities ever since he was replaced as the party's Assembly constituency coordinator with Nadeem from the Muslim community. His followers created ugly scenes by ransacking the party meeting venue during party president Jaganmohan Reddy's visit to Dharmavaram in the recent past.

Gurunath Reddy and his brother Yerriswamy skipped the Dharmavaram meeting. Gurunath's elder brother B Narayana Reddy was a senior legislator and had been a three-time MLA during the Congress rule, particularly during the rule of Y S Rajasekhar Reddy. Soon after he took ill, his brother Gurunath Reddy became MLA in 2009. He lost to the sitting MLA Prabhakar Choudhury of the Telugu Desam Party.

Anantapur MP Diwakar Reddy took advantage of Gurunath Reddy's estranged relations with his party chief Jaganmohan Reddy and decided to use Gurunath to settle scores with local MLA Prabhakar Choudhury. His plan was to replace Prabhakar with Gurunath Reddy. He got the approval of the Chief Minister in this regard. His argument was that Reddy community votes would go in favour of Gurunath apart from the regular party votes.

MP Diwakar Reddy and Prabhakar Choudhury were at logger heads on two issues - the fly over bridge issue and roads expansion in the old town (of Anantapur). Diwakar's involvement in town development affairs was construed as an interference in local affairs. Local MLA Prabhakar Choudhury also forcefully opposed the entry of Gurunath into the party.