Politics in Andhra Pradesh is heating up with just three months left before the state heads for simultaneous Legislative Assembly and Lok Sabha polls. The latest development is the political entry of former state chief minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) founder NT Rama Rao’s grandson.
According to reports doing the rounds, Hitesh Chenchuram, the son of former union minister Daggubati Purandeswari and former state minister Daggubati Venkateswara Rao, is all set to join the YSRCP, the chief opposition party in the state.
Talks are on with the YSRCP and Hitesh is likely to be given the Parchur MLA seat, which his father once held. The YSRCP is certain that Hitesh’s entry along with Venkateswara Rao’s support will help them in Prakasam district where the family enjoys influence.
Reports also suggest that Hitesh, who is presently in the United States, is in the process of relinquishing his US citizenship, following which he will announce his political plans in Andhra Pradesh.
However, it also presents a problem to Hitesh’s mother Purandeswari, who is presently in the BJP. Reports earlier this week had suggested that she might quit politics entirely, but it has been learnt since that she is still considering her future options. Meanwhile, leaders from YSRCP remain tightlipped on the development.
Purandeswari, NTR’s daughter and sister of TDP MLA and actor-politician Nandamuri Balakrishna, has served as an MP from Bapatla and Visakhapatnam from the Congress, before joining the BJP in 2014.
Venkateswara Rao, who began his political career with the TDP, had supported Chandrababu Naidu during the internal party coup that was staged against NTR. However, he soon switched allegiance to NTR and has been a critic of Naidu since then, fading away from politics in the mid-90s. He resurfaced in 2004 after former CM YS Rajasekhara Reddy’s intervention and joined the Congress along with Purandeswari. After the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, Venkateswara went back to political oblivion only for his photo to reportedly surface in a YSRCP poster earlier this week, triggering speculation.
While one of NTR’s grandchildren, Nara Lokesh, is the state’s IT Minister, the TDP founder’s granddaughter Nandamuri Suhasini had unsuccessfully contested in the Telangana elections held in December from the Kukatpally constituency, on Naidu’s insistence.
In 2014, the TDP had bagged 102 seats in 175-member Assembly while the YSRCP had secured 67 seats.