For the past few days, there have been reports in the social media circles that senior YSR Congress party leader and former Andhra Pradesh finance minister Buggana Rajendranath Reddy is contemplating quitting the party and considering joining the Bharatiya Janata Party.
A couple of days ago, YSRCP posted on its official handle on X, denying all such reports being floated on social media.
He said Buggana had been loyal to the YSRCP and he had no plans whatsoever to defect to the BJP. The YSRCP described all such rumours as baseless.
Surprisingly, there has been no official denial or condemnation from Buggana himself on such speculations in the media. He continued to remain silent, triggering further speculations on social media.
In fact, the former finance minister has completely gone muted after the party’s defeat in the recent assembly and Lok Sabha elections. He has stopped coming to Tadepalli and has not been taking party in any of the party programmes.
He didn’t even issue a statement denying the allegations made by Telugu Desam Party president and chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu that the previous YSRCP government had destroyed the state’s economy and the overall debts had mounted to Rs 14 lakh crore.
Sources said Buggana has really been planning to shift to the BJP to safeguard his political career. In the last five years, he has developed a lot of contacts with the BJP leaders at the Centre, particularly Union finance minister Nirmala Sitaraman.
“This might help him get an entry into the BJP,” sources said.
Since Buggana is generally non-controversial and has clean image, the BJP might not say no to his entry, though it might not be taken kindly by its alliance partner, the TDP, in Andhra Pradesh, sources said.
