At last, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national leadership is understood to have agreed to admit former YSR Congress Party general secretary and ex-Rajya Sabha member V Vijay Sai Reddy into the party — thanks to the approval granted by Telugu Desam Party president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu.
According to sources, Sai Reddy has been lobbying intensively to join the BJP, seeing it as his only viable path back into active politics.
After the party nominated senior leader Paka Venkata Satyanarayana to the Rajya Sabha seat he vacated, Sai Reddy found himself at a political crossroads.
Until recently, the BJP leadership had shown little interest in inducting Sai Reddy for two main reasons: first, they did not see much strategic benefit in bringing him in; and second, his entry risked antagonizing the TDP, led by Naidu.
As per the coalition agreement among alliance partners in Andhra Pradesh, any leader’s induction into one party must be approved by the other two partners.
Since Sai Reddy had been a fierce critic of Naidu until not long ago, the TDP chief had been firmly opposed to his inclusion in the BJP.
However, following recent developments — particularly the SIT probe into the liquor scam, where Sai Reddy has reportedly implicated YSRCP leadership and vowed to reveal more — Naidu appears to have softened his stance and cleared the way for his entry into the BJP.
“This has cleared the decks for Sai Reddy’s induction into the BJP,” sources said. “He is likely to formally join the party in the first week of June. The BJP may utilize his services strategically — not just in Andhra Pradesh, but potentially in states like Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.”
