Veteran politician from Guntur and former Telugu Desam Party MP from Narsaraopet parliamentary constituency Rayapati Sambasiva Rao is likely to jump the fence and defect to the Bharatiya Janata Party, according to speculations in political circles.
Rayapati, who had a long stint in the Congress party, deserted the party opposing bifurcation of combined state and defected to the TDP in 2014. He contested from Narasaraopet constituency and got elected.
However, he was dejected with the TDP leadership after his company Transstroy India Ltd was stripped of the contract for Polavaram project in 2017. Yet, he was given the MP ticket again by the TDP in 2019, but he lost to YSRCP candidate Lavu Srikrishna Devarayalu with a huge margin.
Since then, Rayapati has been keeping away from the TDP activities and the constituency. However, his son Rayapati Ranga Rao is playing active role in the TDP from Sattenapalli and is hoping for the party ticket in the next assembly elections.
Interestingly, Rayapati attended the recent review meeting on Guntur where he pitched for the party ticket for his son for the Sattenapalli and MP ticket for him from Narsaraopet. But there was no response from Naidu to his demand.
Naidu refused to give any commitment on the party ticket to anybody at present, but Ranga Rao, apart from a few others including Kodela Shivaram, are also aspiring for the assembly seat.
Having failed to get any assurance from Naidu, Rayapati is learnt to have sent feelers to the BJP leadership to be on the safe side. He reportedly contacted BJP state president Somu Veerraju and held discussions in this regard.
The BJP, which is looking for leaders with strong political and financial background, has reacted positively to Rayapati’s demand for an MP ticket for him and MLA ticket for his son.
Apparently, Rayapati has agreed to fund the election expenditure of a few more BJP MLAs, if the party concedes his demand.
