Former TTD Trust Board chairman and former MLA Chadalawada Krishnamurthy has defended his switching of loyalty from the TDP to the Jana Sena Party.
Mr. Krishnamurthy, during a period of four decades, had sailed with the Congress and the Praja Rajyam Party too.
‘CM neglecting Chittoor’
Acknowledging that it was the TDP that had made him an MLA and given him the chairmanship of the TTD board, Mr. Krishnamurthy said he would be ever loyal to TDP president and Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu for that.
He, however, expressed displeasure over Mr. Naidu “neglecting” the party affairs in his home town Tirupati and native Chittoor district, which, he alleged, had thrown the administration into a state of disarray and led to rampant corruption by the powers-that-be.
Addressing the media here on Sunday, Mr. Krishnamurthy narrated how he had been sidelined by the group allegedly led by MLA M. Sugunamma and how the leadership ignored his pleas to safeguard his self-respect.
“The party leaders never informed me of the meetings nor was my photograph allowed to be printed on posters and banners. They had deliberately ignored me. Feeling suffocated, I had to leave the party with a heavy heart,” Mr. Krishnamurthy said.
Stating that JSP president Pawan Kalyan was a promising leader who had the courage to question societal improprieties and corruption in the corridors of power, Mr. Krishnamurthy said, “Having lost my son long ago, I now see him in Mr. Pawan.”
Recalling his long association with actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi and his brothers because of his business as film distributor and exhibitor, Mr. Krishnamurthy called his decision to join the JSP as a natural fallout.
‘Caste not a factor’
He brushed aside the talk that his Balija (Kapu) caste was the factor that clinched the deal. “I was with the Congress for 25 years and the TDP for nearly two decades. Which caste did they patronise then?” he asked.
While indicating that he would not be in the race for the Assembly elections, the veteran leader dropped enough hints that he might contest if he was asked to.
He also said that Mr. Pawan Kalyan remained non-committal to his appeal to contest from Tirupati.
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