YSRCP general secretary to join TDP ?

YSR Congress party state general secretary Gouru Venkat Reddy is all set to leave the party to join Telugu Desam. Panyam MLA Ms Gouru Charitha Reddy is his wife. Sensing that Mr Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy may prefer Mr Katasani Rambhupal Reddy for the Panyam seat, Mr Gouru Reddy had convened a meeting with his followers on Tuesday to elicit their opinion.The YSRC chief was expected to accelerate the exercise of finalising candidates to be fielded in all the 175 constituencies in the state.

Stunned by the advantage taken by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu in announcing the candidates, YSRC leaders were said to be mounting pressure on their chief to finish the selection fast. Mr Gouru Venkat Reddy's family was very close to Dr YS Rajasekhar Reddy, father of the current YSRC chief. In a recently released YS biopic Yatra, the story of Gouru family was prominently depicted to establish how Mr Rajasekhar Reddy valued loyalty and kept his word.

In fact, this scene in the biopic has become a talking point and has also brought out the relationship between Kotla Sujathamma and Gouru Charitah Reddy. With Kotla family joining TD, Mr Gouru Venkata Reddy's family is also following suit.

When asked about the need to call for a meeting with his followers, Mr Reddy said that Mr Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy had not given any clear sign of fielding Charitha for Panyam seat.

“We have not left YSRC as yet but it all depends on the assurances given by Jagan,” he said. YSRC will have to face a tough challenge in controlling the dissidence that is likely to flare up once the final list of contesting candidates is announced. There are more than one aspirant in every constituency.

People with solid resources to spend in the elections are being scouted and short listed, it is learnt.