The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) is unlikely to contest Lok Sabha elections in Telangana on April 11. With several top leaders defecting to the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and the remaining leaders not keen to contest the polls, the TDP's Telangana unit is understood to have decided not to field any candidates.
Monday is the last day for filing of nominations and the Telangana unit of the party have not announced a single candidate so far. The decision came two days after key leader and former MP Nama Nageswara Rao quit the TDP to join the TRS, in a major blow to the party. The TRS gave him a ticket from the Khammam Lok Sabha constituency.
Nageswara Rao, a member of the TDP's politburo, the highest decision-making body of the party, was unhappy with the party leadership for some time.
An industrialist, he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Khammam in 2009. He was then one of the richest MPs in the country with declared assets of Rs 338 crore. In December 2018, his assets stood at Rs 113 crore.
It was earlier speculated that the industrialist-politician would be joining the Congress. However, as the grand old party itself is reeling under severe crisis of defections, Nama has joined the TRS.
The TDP, which contested the recent Assembly elections in alliance with Congress, may announce support to Congress in all 17 Lok Sabha constituencies in Telangana following an internal party meeting on Monday.
The TDP, the ruling party of Andhra Pradesh, had contested Telangana Assembly polls as part of the four-party 'People's Alliance' led by the Congress. The alliance secured 21 seats in 119-member Telangana Assembly. This included two TDP MLAs, and one of them has sine crossed over to the TRS.
IANS inputs