Shock to Naidu: Senior MLC quits TDP!

It is not even two months since the Telugu Desam Party headed by former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu faced a humiliating defeat in the assembly elections, but key leaders in the party started deserting it one after the other.

The recent defection of four Rajya Sabha members – Y S Chowdary, C M Ramesh, T G Venkatesh and Garikapati Mohan Rao into the Bharatiya Janata Party came as a big blow to the party. Subsequently, some other leaders have also quietly resigned from the party.

At a time when Naidu began making efforts to keep the remaining flock together by adopting an aggressive approach towards the ruling YSR Congress party, he received yet another rude shock on Wednesday.

Senior party leader and MLC Annam Sateesh Prabhakar decided to resign from the party as well as his membership. He has been a very important leader for the TDP in Bapatla of Guntur district.

Though Prabhakar lost the assembly elections against YSR Congress candidate Kona Raghupati in 2014, Naidu acknowledged his services to the party and nominated him as the MLC. But now, he is quitting both the party and the MLC seat.

Apparently, Prabhakar is likely to join the YSR Congress party and might get re-elected as MLC in the subsequent by-elections. He is understood to have had talks with the YSRC leadership in this regard.