Has TDP tried to send former minister and party MLA from Visakhapatnam (North) Ganta Srnivasa Rao into the YSR Congress party for covert operations?
One would get the doubt after watching the unusual silence of the TDP leadership over the reports that Ganta is planning to take a plunge into the YSRC soon and a section of the ruling party was solidly supporting him.
Normally, when a senior party leader like Ganta decides to quit the party and jump into the YSRC, the TDP leadership would definitely react quickly to prevent his defection, as it had done in the case of Vallabhaneni Vamsi of Gannavaram, Devineni Avinash from Vijayawada or Karanam Balaram from Chirala.
On all these occasions, TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu had sent envoys to pacify the prospective defectors as crisis managers and request them to stay back in the party. But in the case of Ganta, he had not done any such thing.
Moreover, there was no denial from Ganta on the reports that he would be defecting into the YSRC by August 15. Nor did the TDP leadership issue a statement about his plans, lending credence to the rumours that Ganta’s entry into the YSRC was more or less confirmed.
This has led to the talk that the TDP itself might be trying to send Ganta to join the YSRC as a covert to weaken the ruling party from within.
Particularly, a powerful community which has a lot of hold on Visakhapatnam is planning to plant Ganta into the YSRC so as to retain its grip on the district politics.
This particular caste group has spread the talk about Ganta’s entry into the YSRC at a time when senior leader and party in-charge of north coastal Andhra districts V Vijay Sai Reddy was away in hospital because of Covid-19. Since there was no denial either from Ganta or the TDP, everybody thought it could be true.
These reports creating a commotion in the YSRC and the senior leaders expressed apprehensions that Ganta’s entry would disturb the otherwise peaceful conditions in the party. There was also a talk that the party would split into groups if Ganta joins the YSRC.
May be these apprehensions have come to the notice of the high command or party president Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy has not given the green signal to Ganta or the TDP legislator himself has dropped his plans to join the YSRC amidst stiff resistance from the party leaders; the news of his entry into YSRC has subsided as fast as it surfaced.
So, at least for now, Ganta won’t be joining the YSRC. There was a talk that YSRCP senior leader might have fuelled these gossips only to create troubles for Vijay Sai Reddy.
But since the gossips have evaporated now, one might not hear about Ganta in the YSRC at least in the near future.
