In an interesting political development, Congress MP Mallu Ravi on Wednesday met R Krishnaiah, a day after the latter resigned from the Rajya Sabha.
Krishnaiah, who was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Andhra Pradesh on an YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) ticket in 2022, submitted his resignation to Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar in New Delhi and the latter accepted it.
Mallu Ravi, the Congress MP from Nagarkurnool, met Krishnaiah and reportedly invited him to join the Congress party.
Krishnaiah, a leader of the Backward Classes, had said on Tuesday that he resigned from Rajya Sabha to strengthen the movement for a caste census.
He also vowed to strive to enhance political reservation for Backward Classes.
Krishnaiah was elected to the Rajya Sabha unanimously in 2022 and still had some years to complete his term.
Krishnaiah, who was the President of the National BC Association, was the surprise choice of the YSRCP, which had overwhelming majority in the previous Assembly in Andhra Pradesh.
His resignation came a few months after the YSRCP lost power to the Telugu Desam Party (TDP)-led alliance in Andhra Pradesh.
Krishnaiah had joined the TDP in 2014 and he was elected to the Telangana Assembly from L.B. Nagar constituency in 2014 on a TDP ticket but switched loyalties to the Congress party on the eve of the 2018 elections.
In the 2018 Assembly elections in Telangana, he contested unsuccessfully on a Congress ticket from Miryalaguda constituency.
In 2019, he quit the Congress party and joined YSRCP at the invitation of YSRCP President Jagan Mohan Reddy.
Meanwhile, the YSRCP alleged that Krishnaiah has joined hands with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu.
It stated that it was unfortunate as Chandrababu’s actions were destabilising the state and undermining democracy by purchasing Opposition members.
YSRCP highlighted that former Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy had appointed Krishnaiah with the hope that he would work for the uplift of BC communities.
YSRCP said Krishnaiah’s decision to side with Chandrababu was a serious betrayal of the community and the trust placed in him by the party and people.
Krishnaiah is the third Rajya Sabha member of YSRCP to resign in less than a month.
Earlier, Mopidevi Venkataramana and Beeda Masthan Rao had resigned from the Rajya Sabha on August 29. They also quit the YSRCP and joined the TDP.
With the resignation of Krishnaiah, YSRCP’s strength in the Rajya Sabha has come down to eight from 11.