The Telugu Desam Party's Telangana unit President L. Ramana on Friday resigned from the party and decided to join the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).
Ramana sent his resignation letter to TDP national President N. Chandrababu Naidu. He thanked the former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister for all the support he extended to him for last 30 years.
Conveying to Naidu that he has decided to join the TRS, he said that in view of the changed political situation in Telangana, he has decided to participate in the state's development by joining the TRS.
Ramana's resignation came a day after he met Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao to express his willingness to join the TRS. Accompanied by Panchayat Raj Minister E. Dayakar Rao, Ramana called on Chandrasekhar Rao, who is also the President of the TRS.
Chandrasekhar Rao reportedly assured Ramana that he will be given due recognition and political opportunity. Ramana is likely to be nominated as the TRS candidate for Legislative Council elections that are due in a couple of months.
The meeting at the Chief Minister's official residence Pragati Bhavan lasted for one hour. KCR, as the Chief Minister is popularly called, reportedly highlighted the development achieved by Telangana in a short span of time after attaining statehood in 2014.
Ramana, who had been leading the TDP in Telangana since the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh in 2014, is likely to formally join the TRS in a couple of days. He was one of the few leaders remaining in the TDP in Telangana.
Several top TDP leaders switched loyalties to TRS during the last seven years. Ramana's close friend in the TDP Dayakar Rao had joined the TRS in 2016.
There have been reports for last one month about the TRS trying to woo Ramana to negate the possible impact from the resignation of former minister Eatala Rajender, who joined the BJP recently.
Rajender, who resigned from Huzurabad Assembly constituency, will be contesting the by-election as BJP candidate.
Ramana, a former MLA from Jagtial and a leader from backward classes, is expected to bolster the ruling party ahead of the by-election.
The TDP could win just two seats in 119-member Telangana Assembly in 2018. With both the MLAs defecting to the TRS recently, it now has no presence in the state Assembly.
