Adinarayana Reddy, a three-time MLA and a former TDP Minister in the previous Chandrababu Naidu government in Andhra Pradesh, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in New Delhi on Monday. He was welcomed into the BJP by the party's National General Secretary Arun Singh, in the presence of National Working President of the party JP Nadda.
Soon after joining the saffron party, Adinarayana Reddy said that he was deeply influenced by the policy decisions taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He also went on to criticise Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy’s governance regarding the Polavaram irrigation project and development works in the Amaravati capital region. Speaking to the media, he said, “In these circumstances, only BJP can improve the conditions in our state of Andhra Pradesh.”
Once considered close to Naidu, Adinarayana Reddy has won thrice from the Jammaladugu constituency of Kadapa district. However, he had resigned from TDP's primary membership on September 12. There have been rumours that he would join the ruling YSR Congress Party in Andhra Pradesh.
But BJP National Secretary Sunil Deodhar, who is also the party’s co-in-charge in Andhra Pradesh, has been camping in the state for the past few months and managed to woo Reddy to his party.
Sources in the BJP told IANS that Reddy has a huge influence in the Assembly seats of the Kadapa region. And with Reddy in the BJP, the party is seeking to improve its position in the area.
Adinarayana Reddy has been elected to the Jammalamadugu constituency thrice since 2004. He was with earlier the Congress and then moved to the YSRCP. In 2014, he won on a YSRCP ticket and later defected to the ruling TDP and was inducted into the cabinet. He was fielded by the TDP from the Kadapa Lok Sabha constituency in 2019 but lost the election to the YSRCP’s YS Avinash Reddy.