After being in political oblivion for over a year, former minister from Visakhapatnam Konathala Ramakrishna is all set to take a plunge into the Telugu Desam Party.
Konathala, who had been in the Congress party for several years before joining the YSR Congress party to play a crucial role as the political affairs committee member, had been staying away from active politics after he resigned from the YSR Congress party more than a year ago.
He had accused party president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy of ignoring seniors like him and taking unilateral decisions, besides promoting members of his coterie, including Vijay Sai Reddy.
For quite some time, Konathala has been looking for options to stage a comeback into politics. And finally, he chose to join the ruling Telugu Desam Party, which he had criticized in strongest terms in the past.
On Tuesday, minister Ch Ayyannapatrudu and MLA Kala Venkat Rao took Konathala to party president and AP Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and got the approval for his entry into the TDP.
Along with Konathala, former MLA Gandi Babji, who had also quit the YSR Congress party sometime back, also decided to join the TDP.
Interestingly, the entry of Konathala has triggered unrest in the TDP in Visakhapatnam.
Sources said Minister for Education Ganta Srinivasa Rao was upset with the admission of Konathala into the TDP.
He reportedly expressed view that the TDP president should have consulted him before admitting Konathala. He also felt that there was no need for Konathala at a time when the party has enough MLAs in Visakhapatnam district.
