The political situation in Andhra Pradesh took an interesting turn with former chief secretary IYR Krishna Rao formally joining the Bharatiya Janata Party in the presence of party president Amit Shah in Hyderabad on Saturday.
Ever since IYR turned a bitter critic of Telugu Desam Party president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu after his removal from the post of AP Brahmin Welfare Corporation, there has been talk about joining active politics.
The TDP leadership initially suspected that he might join the YSR Congress party, as he had strongly defended the postings of a social media activist supporting YSRC president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy against Naidu and Lokesh.
He also alleged favoured several YSRC activists belonging to Brahmin community in distribution of scholarships, instead of the TDP workers, when he was the corporation chairman. His proximity with YSRC MLA Kona Raghupathi also confirmed the suspicion.
But subsequently, IYR started moving closely with the Sangh Parivar groups and making statements in support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He attacked the TDP for moving a no confidence motion against BJP led NDA government at the Centre.
He also supported the BJP argument that the special package was much better than special category status, for which Naidu had already agreed.
Now with IYR formally joining the BJP, it is certain that he is going to play active role in the party and step up the attack on Naidu on behalf of the party.
The BJP also might have seen a lot of benefits in admitting IYR, as he could provide a lot of inside information about the Naidu government since he was the chief secretary of the state for a long time.
He would also be able to provide inputs on the acts of omission and commission in the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, of which he was the executive officer for a long time.
It remains to be seen what role the BJP leadership would entrust IYR with in Andhra Pradesh in the coming days.
The TDP leaders are now alleging that IYR would act as a link between the BJP and the YSR Congress party, as he is nothing but a mole of the YSRC in the BJP!
