Senior leader and former minister in the Chandrababu Naidu cabinet in the combined Andhra Pradesh Nagam Janardhan Reddy, who had been maintaining silence over his political journey for quite some time, quietly joined the Congress party a couple of days ago.
Nagam, who has been maintaining distance from the Bharatiya Janata Party for a long time, met Congress president Rahul Gandhi along with Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president Capt N Uttam Kumar Reddy and formally joined the Congress party.
Rahul welcomed Nagam and said his entry into the party would definitely strengthen the Congress party in Telangana.
However, what surprised everybody was the secret manner in which Nagam joined the Congress.
All said and done, he is a stalwart in Mahbubnagar politics and enjoys tremendous clout and image both among political leaders and public.
He could have put up a big show while joining the Congress by arranging a big public meeting in Nagarkurnool, signalling his come back into active politics.
Yet, he chose to keep a very low profile. Sources said Nagam’s entry is not being taken kindly by many Congress leaders in erstwhile combined Mahbubnagar district, who have turned is enemies.
Many leaders feel Nagam would jeopardise their chances of becoming MLAs and dominate the party.
However, the PCC president reportedly told them that given the political needs of Nagam, he would not be able to create troubles for others.
Since he is a political heavy weight with public image, he would be an asset to the party. But, fearing that others might launch a campaign against him, Nagam hurriedly went to Delhi and joined the Congress without much hungama.
Nagam also declared that the forthcoming assembly elections in 2019 would be his last elections and if he did not win the elections, he would retire from politics.
A five-time MLA, Nagam joined the BJP in 2013 after quitting the Telugu Desam Party (TDP). Before joining the BJP, Nagam had floated his own political outfit Telangana Nagara Samithi, which he later merged with the BJP.
