RRR to turn a rebel for TDP, too?

Maverick politician and current Telugu Desam Party (TDP) legislator from the Undi assembly constituency, Kanumuru Raghu Ramakrishnam Raju, appears to be a perpetually disgruntled figure in politics.

Raju considers himself a high-profile politician, but his controversial comments and rebellious nature often land him in deep trouble. Despite this, he continues to stir controversies with his statements.

Raju had to engage in hectic lobbying to secure the TDP ticket in the recent assembly elections.

He made a desperate attempt to get the party ticket for the Narasapuram Lok Sabha seat, but it was allotted to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as part of the alliance.

He tried to unseat BJP candidate Bhupatiraju Srinivasa Varma from Narasapuram but did not succeed. Finally, due to tremendous pressure, TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu had to allocate him the party ticket for the Undi assembly constituency.

After getting elected, Raju expected Naidu to include him in the state cabinet, but to his dismay, it did not happen. He then tried for the state assembly speaker post, but Naidu preferred Ch Ayyanna Patrudu over him.

After keeping silent for a few days, Raju began expressing his dissatisfaction with the TDP government, albeit indirectly.

In a recent television interview, Raju stated that he did not get a cabinet berth due to caste equations.

“It is not possible to accommodate all castes in the cabinet. There are some castes which Naidu might be afraid of ignoring. There might be other castes which Naidu might not like. So, the chief minister might have given more cabinet berths to the castes which he is afraid of and set aside the castes which he didn’t like,” he said.

Raju pointed out that there is not a single MLA from the Brahmin caste in the cabinet.

“Similarly, there is no representation for the Kshatriya community, even though there are six to seven MLAs from this caste,” he added.

This has led to speculation that Raju is slowly turning into a rebel within the TDP, much like he was in the YSRCP.

“Maybe, that is his nature. He doesn’t adjust well in any party,” an analyst commented.