The firebrand Congress MP from Vijayawada Lagadapati Rajagopal is known for making poll predictions. This time, he has made a stunning prediction that the Congress will draw a blank in the coming Lok Sabha elections if Andhra Pradesh is divided before the elections.
"The party will not win even a single seat in Telangana and residuary Andhra Pradesh," the MP said.
By deciding to bifurcate the state, the Congress has lost public faith in Seemandhra region while its stocks have also fallen in Telangana region despite the decision to grant statehood, he said.
The elected representatives of Congress in Seemandhra are ready to jump the sinking ship as they know that the party was heading for a total rout.
Lagadapati went a step further than the PCC President Botsa Satyanarayana, who had said that nearly 30 Seemandhra MLAs might cross over to other parties.
The Vijayawada MP predicted that nearly 70 legislators will quit the party if the state is divided.
Asked whether the Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, who is also strongly opposed to the bifurcation of the state, would float a new political party on Samaikyandhra plank, the MP said that he was not aware of it.
Lagadapati, an industrialist turned politician had tried all methods to convince the party high command to reverse its decision to divide the state but to no avail. He had played a key role in moving a no-confidence motion against the UPA government.
