Mylavaram MLA Vasantha Krishna Prasad (YSR Congress Party) joined TDP in the presence of its national president and former CM N. Chandrababu Naidu at his residence in Hyderabad on March 2.
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Addressing the media later, Mr. Krishna Prasad said only Mr. Naidu was capable of transforming Andhra Pradesh into a progressive State by giving equal importance to development and welfare.
He said he was prepared to discharge whatever role was entrusted to him by the party even if he was not fielded as an MLA candidate from Mylavaram or some other constituency.
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Mr. Prasad pointed out that he worked hard for the YSRCP but did not get the priority he deserved, and that the development of his constituency was neglected.
He observed that several representations submitted by him to the YSRCP president and Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy for funds to develop the constituency evoked no response.
Son of Jai Andhra movement leader and former minister Vasantha Nageswara Rao, Mr. Krishna Prasad had been an arch rival of TDP leader Devineni Umamaheswara Rao for a long time.
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Mr. Umamaheswara Rao won from Mylavaram in 2009 and 2014 but lost to Mr. Krishna Prasad in 2019 elections by a margin of just around 13,000 votes.
The TDP has so far won the constituency (located in Vijayawada Parliamentary constituency) four times while the Congress party was victorious on three occasions.
Kesineni Sivanath (Chinni), who is poised to be the TDP candidate for Vijayawada Lok Sabha seat, ex-minister Nettem Raghuram and others were present.