Laxminarayana has constantly been in the limelight through his frequent interactions with farmers and rural communities in several districts of Andhra Pradesh.
Amidst huge speculations over his joining a mainstream political party or launching his own political outfit to serve his ‘interest groups,’ a photo of the former CBI officer participating in a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) convention has gone viral on social media. The photo is now giving way to speculations that Laxminarayana may join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) before the 2019 General Elections as their Chief Ministerial candidate.
Laxminarayana caught the attention of the public following his dealing the infamous ‘disproportionate assets’ case of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, the current leader of the opposition in Andhra Pradesh and the son of YS Rajashekar Reddy, the former Chief Minister of united Andhra.
The retired officer, who is well-known for reaching out to young voters in the Telugu states, having interacted with as many as 15 lakh youth, is quite popular amongst educated youngsters.
The leader has already stated that he would like to work for and with rural agrarian communities, whose problems he feels are not being addressed in an appropriate manner.
A source has told TNM that the photo is not fake and that Laxminarayana was invited to be the chief guest for the event long before he had taken up his voluntary resignation, to which he had agreed.
The photo was apparently taken last Friday at the meeting which was held in the outskirts of Hyderabad where the former JD shared the stage with RSS Telangana leaders.
When TNM questioned whether Laxminarayana was likely to join the BJP, the source stated that there were proposals from the BJP to project him as their Chief Ministerial candidate for the 2019 elections, while other parties such as TDP and Janasena too have expressed their willingness to make him a part of their core team in their respective political parties.
He further added, “At present he his visiting and interacting with farmers and rural communities to have a more comprehensive understanding of their concerns, he will be announcing his future course of action in 2 months after visiting farmers across 13 districts."
The source has also informed TNM that the attendance of the former official at the RSS meeting was due to a prior commitment made and was not to be interpreted as his decision to join the BJP.
However, BJP’s Andhra Pradesh State General Secretary Shyam Kishore expressed that the party would be extremely welcoming of Laxminarayana should he join them, “His ideas and political language of patriotism, nationalism and anti-corruption are very much similar to ours and have told our high command to invite him into the party.”
When TNM questioned whether Laxminarayana would be their potential CM candidate he replied saying, “Those talks were held earlier, but now he is saying he will meet the people across state and announce his decision. If he comes to our party we would definitely give him an important position.”
Another BJP leader, MLC Pokala Madhav also stated that the party would be open to having him, “We are more than happy to accommodate him, however he wants to take 2 months time to decide. If he chooses to join us after that we will definitely welcome him."