Former MLA Vangaveeti Radhakrishna, or Radha as he is popularly known, on Thursday cited the “insults” allegedly heaped on him by Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and his “dictatorial attitude” as the reasons for quitting the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), but did not reveal whether he accepted Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s invitation to join the TDP.
‘A mistake’
In an attempt to placate those questioning how he could associate himself with the party (TDP) during whose tenure his father Mohana Ranga Rao had been done to death, Mr. Radha admitted that it was wrong to blame the then TDP government. Addressing the media here, he said the TDP government of that day was wrongly held responsible for the incident.
“I later realised that it was a mistake to make such a sweeping statement,” Mr. Radha said, and asserted that his father had followers in all the parties, including the YSRCP, but Mr. Reddy did not appear to have much regard for the slain leader.
Mr. Radha alleged that Mr. Reddy had once objected to the unveiling of the statue of Mohana Ranga Rao on the pretext that he did not inform the local party in-charge about it. “But that fact is that Mr. Reddy basically did not like it,” he added.
Mr. Reddy was also not bothered when the statue of my father was vandalised, he charged.
Loses cool
Mr. Radha lost his cool when reporters sought to know whether the TDP invited him in order to “own the Kapu community” and whether he believed that his father’s wishes would be fulfilled in the TDP. Seeking to know if those standing by his side were Kapus, he objected to the branding of his father as a leader of a particular community.
“Let me finish, let me explain, God damn it,” he shouted when the media persons protested against his threatening postures.