Bringing the curtains down on months of suspense, former Minister Konathala Ramakrishna has decided to join the TDP. He will hold a meeting with his supporters at Rao Gopala Rao stadium at Anakapalle on March 14 and formally announce the decision, it is reliably learnt.
He will join the TDP at a meeting to be addressed by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu in Visakhapatnam on March 17, sources close to Mr. Ramakrishna told The Hindu.
He is likely to contest from the Anakapalle Lok Sabha constituency. The former MP from Anakapalle had been a Congressman all through his career until he joined the YSRCP. He has been keeping his options open ever since he quit the YSRCP after the 2014 elections. He visited Vijayawada on March 28 requesting all political parties to make north Andhra development agenda a part of their manifestos. He met Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu too and a political discussion took place between then.
Mr. Ramakrishna held a meeting with his supporters from all over the district on February 26 and 27 to elicit their views. Though he did not join any party after quitting the YSRCP, he has been actively pursuing the development agenda of North Andhra through Uttrandhra Charcha Vedika of which he is the convener. He vigorously campaigned for Uttrandhra Sujala Sravanthi irrigation project, the Purushottapatnam lift scheme on the Left Main Canal of the Polavaram project and railway zone for Visakhapatnam, among other issues.