The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Telangana received another setback on Monday as former minister E. Peddi Reddy quit the party.
Peddi Reddy was an aspirant for the party ticket for the ensuing by-election to Huzurabad Assembly seat vacated by former minister E. Rajender.
However, Rajender joined the BJP and the party decided to field him as its candidate. Peddi Reddy was opposed to Rajender's entry into the BJP.
A two-time MLA from Huzurabad, Peddi Reddy had quit the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) to join the BJP in 2019. He had served as minister during the tenure of TDP President N. Chandrababu Naidu as Chief Minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh.
Peddi Reddy is the second BJP leader to quit the party in less than a week. Senior leader Motkupalli Narasimhulu resigned from the saffron party last Friday. He was also a prominent leader of the TDP in Telangana before joining the BJP.
Both Peddi Reddy and Narasimhulu are likely to join the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).
By-election to Huzurabad seat has been necessitated by the resignation of sitting legislator Rajender. He quit the TRS and resigned from Assembly membership last month, more than a month after he was dropped from Cabinet by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao following allegations that he encroached lands of some farmers.
