TDP assembly candidate Adala Prabhakar moves to YSRCP, gets LS ticket

Amaravati, March 17 (IANS) Barely two days after he was named as the candidate from an Assembly constituency in Andhra Pradesh, a leader of the state's ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) crossed over to the opposition YSR Congress Party, which made him the candidate for a Lok Sabha seat.

The YSRCP on Sunday named Adala Prabhakar as its candidate for Nellore Lok Sabha seat, hours after he switched loyalties.

The TDP had named Prabhakar its candidate from Nellore Rural constituency in the first list of 126 candidates released by the party late on Thursday.

Having started to campaign in the constituency, the TDP leader suddenly went incommunicado, surfacing in Hyderabad to join the YSRCP, whose leader Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy welcomed him. Hours later, Jagan, as the party chief is popularly called, named him as the Lok Saha candidate from Nellore.

In 2014 elections, Prabhakar had unsuccessfully contested as the TDP candidate from Nellore Lok Sabha seat.

In another interesting development, Gedela Srinibabu, who was named as candidate for Visakhapatnam Lok Sabha seat by Jana Sena, also defected to the YSRCP. The startup entrepreneur called on Jagan in Hyderabad on Saturday and joined the party. However, unlike Adala, Gedela has not found place in the YSRCP's list of candidates for Assembly or Lok Sabha polls.

Actor Pawan Kalyan's Jana Sena was reportedly planning to change its candidate from Visakhapatnam and on learning about this, Srinibabu crossed over to the YSRCP in the hope of getting ticket but was disappointed.

Elections to 175-member Andhra Pradesh Assembly and all 25 Lok Sabha seats in the state are scheduled on April 11 in the first phase of the seven phase Lok Sabha elections.