Kanna Lakshminarayana vows to support Pawan Kalyan; rift in AP BJP wide open

HYDERABAD: Heightening the recent speculation surrounding his political future, disgruntled senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader from Andhra Pradesh Kanna Lakshminarayana on Wednesday vowed to stand behind Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan.

His latest assertion added more fuel to the speculation that the former BJP AP unit chief was increasingly gravitating towards the Jana Sena and it was only a matter of time before he made his final move in this regard. Kanna Lakshminarayana is currently involved in a turf war with Somu Veerraju, the incumbent president of the BJP in AP.

Making matters worse for the top leadership, a spate of resignations, by at least four leaders of BJP’s Krishna district unit on Wednesday, brought the bitter infighting out into the open. The leaders raised the banner of revolt against what they alleged Somu Veerraju’s unilateral decision to replace the presidents of six district committees without consulting the party’s core committee.

Choosing this as the most opportune time to hit at his adversary Somu Veerraju, Kanna Lakshminarayana raked up the issue of the latter’s relative (viyyankudu) Thota Chadrasekhar joining the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) of KCR. He demanded an explanation from the BJP state chief as to why Thota Chandrasekhar preferred the BRS over the saffron party.

Lakshminarayana claimed that several leaders made a beeline to the BJP when he was the BJP AP unit president. He demanded Somu Veerraju to spell out the reasons that are forcing many to desert the BJP in the state.

He also made a sensational claim that the exodus into the BRS was happening as part of a conspiracy hatched by YS Jagan and KCR. He further claimed that the ultimate objective of this plot is to weaken Pawan Kalyan in Andhra Pradesh and Bandi Sanjay in Telangana.

Kanna Lakshminarayana vowed to firmly stand behind Pawan Kalyan.

Lakshminarayana’s outbursts, though not entirely unexpected, came close on the heels of his recent meeting with Jana Sena senior leader Nadendla Manohar. His meeting sparked the speculation that the senior leader was increasingly leaning towards Jana Sena and he was only using his rivalry with Somu Veerraju as a ruse for his exit from the BJP.