If the reports from Telugu Desam Party are to be believed, film actor-turned-businessman-turned politician Murali Mohan Maganti would be the TD Parliamentary Party leader.
Last time, it was Nama Nageshwara Rao from Khammam who was the TDPP leader. However, this time, TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu is facing a piquant situation in choosing the leader, though the MPs on Tuesday authorised him to take a decision The MPs unanimously resolved that Naidu should select the TDPP leader.
The TDP had won 16 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh in the recent elections. Vizianagaram MP P Ashok Gajapathi Raju has already been inducted in the Union Cabinet as the Civil Aviation Minister.
The other TDP MPs are Ch Malla Reddy (Malkajgiri), JC Diwakar Reddy (Anantapur), Jayadev Galla (Guntur), Kesineni Srinivas (Vijayawada), Konakalla Narayana Rao (Machilipatnam), Nimalla Kistappa (Hindupur), Maganti Venkateswara Rao (Eluru), Malyadri Sriram (Bapatla), Murali Mohan Manganti (Rajahmundry), Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao (Anakapalli), Naramalli Sivaprasad (Chittoor), Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu (Srikakulam), Rayapati Sambasiva Rao (Narasaraopet) and Thota Narasimhan (Kakinada).
Sources said Naidu prefers Murali Mohan, who is his trusted lieutenant and is also an effective lobbyist like Nama. Though Murali Mohan is a first time MP and there are seniors to him like JC Diwakar Reddy, Maganti Venkateshwara Rao, Konakalla Narayana Rao and Nimmala Kishtappa, Naidu cannot rely on any of them. He, however, try for Cabinet berths to a couple of seniors, say sources.
