Andhra Pradesh: Former MP and Kapu leader Mudragada Padmanabham to join YSRCP

Kakinada (Andhra Pradesh) [India], March 10 (ANI): Former Lok Sbha MP and veteran Kapu leader Mudragada Padmanabham is all set to join the ruling party in Andhra Pradesh Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) on March 14.
Padmanabham, while addressing a press conference at his residence in Kirlampudi Mandal on Sunday morning said that he, along with his son and followers, will head to Tadepalli on March 14 to formally join the party around 6 pm.
Padmanabham also said that he would join the party in the presence of Chief Minister.
Emphasizing his commitment, Padmanabham said that he plans to actively campaign in the elections on behalf of Chief Minister Jagan.
"I do not have any interest in holding any official position within the party," he added.
He further said that his primary goal is to support the party through campaigning and declared his willingness to accept any post offered to him if the party secures victory in the upcoming assembly elections.
Mudragada Padmanabham is known as a warrior of Kapu rights as he has been fighting for Kapu reservations for a long time. Although YSRCP lobbied strongly to rope him in about two months ago, the former minister refused the offer and decided to go with Janasena.
Notably, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on March 9 announced an alliance with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Jana Sena Party for the upcoming Lok Sabha and Andhra Pradesh assembly elections, which will be held simultaneously.
In a joint statement, the three parties said that their coming together with the two parties will "help in reaching the aspirations of the people of Andhra Pradesh."
"The BJP and TDP have a very old relationship together. TDP joined NDA in 1996 and has worked together successfully in Atal Ji's and Narendra Modi Ji's government. In 2014, the TDP and the BJP fought the Lok Sabha election and assembly election together. The JSP had supported the 2014 general and assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh," the statement said.
The TDP had pulled out of the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) in 2018 in the wake of the Modi government's refusal to grant special category status to Andhra Pradesh.
In the 2019 elections, the YSRCP won 22 out of the 25 parliamentary seats in Andhra Pradesh 2019 on an anti-Union election plank. It also won 151 of the 175 assembly seats. (ANI)