Frustrated PVP to quit YSRC, to join TDP?

[Anta Assamey]

Prominent industrialist-turned-politician Potluri Vara Prasad (PVP), who unsuccessfully contested as YSR Congress party candidate from Vijayawada parliamentary constituency recently, is learnt to have decided to call it quits to the ruling party.

According to speculations doing rounds in the media circles in Vijayawada, PVP is feeling neglected in the YSRC and his repeated attempts to meet party president and chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy did not succeed.

Apparently, PVP has felt that he did not get any benefit from the YSRC in the last three years, both industrially and monetarily, let alone politically.

“He is feeling that Jagan has been ignoring him and there is no point in clinging to the party,” sources said.

The talk in the media circles is that PVP is making attempts to join the Telugu Desam Party and has sent feelers to party president N Chandrababu Naidu. It is not immediately known how Naidu has responded to his feelers.

In fact, PVP had been very active in the YSRC even after his defeat in the Vijayawada parliamentary elections, taking on his political rival Kesineni Nani strongly. Both PVP and Nani had indulged in a wordy duel on social media.

So, if PVP wants to join the TDP, the biggest hurdle will be Kesineni. And one wonders whether Naidu will accommodate PVP without consulting Kesineni.

At the same time, the TDP chief cannot ignore PVP, as he is a big player in entertainment industry, owning several malls and cinema screens in big cities including Hyderabad and Vijayawada.

It may be recalled that PVP, who was initially in Jana Sena Party floated by power star Pawan Kalyan and had even funded Pawan’s public meetings in 2014, had tried for a TDP ticket from Vijayawada parliamentary constituency.

Even Pawan Kalyan lobbied for the MP ticket for PVP from the TDP, but Naidu had preferred Kesineni, who is locally very powerful leader.

As a result, PVP parted ways from Jana Sena and kept quiet till 2019, when he joined the YSRC and got the Vijayawada ticket.