Gudur YSRC MLA P Sunil Kumar is crossing over to Telugu Desam party on April 8, Ugadi day. Sunil, a dalit MLA, who called on chief minister Chandrababu Naidu yesterday, today revealed to media that he was joining the TDP with the sole intention of working to develop his constituency. He said the muhurtam for joining was fixed on April 8.

He dismissed the charge that he was quitting YSRCP and joining the TDP because of allurement of money. Citing the reports that TDP had given him Rs 10 crore advance and another ten crore would be given after his joining party, he said the charge was unfair.

” These charges show the type of discrimination some leaders display towards SC and BC MLAs. When an upper caste MLA switches loyalties, it is portrayed as political compulsion and local problems. Nobody dare attribute their defection to the allurement of money. But, when a dalit or BC leaders quit the party, mud is slug immediately,” he said with visible pain on his face.

District minister P Narayana is said to have played key role in Sunil’s crossing over to TDP. It was he who took Sunil to chief minister Naidu yesterday.

With this the number of MLAs, the YSRC lost reached nine. The wooing of Sunil into TDP is seen as a retaliation to the admission of Anam Vijayakumar Reddy into YSRC. Though his brothers, Anam Ramanaryana Reddy and Vivekananda Reddy, switched over to TDP, Vijayakumar Reddy, along with his son, choose to move towards YSRC. Their admission into the party had been organized in a spectacular way at Nellore. It was from this meeting YSRCP president Jagan launched his now famous campaign against Naidu as ‘leader without character and credibility’.

Narayana, who hails from the district, has dealt a severe blow on YSRC in just a fortnight after the meeting. Sunil’s decision to quit YSRC was a was quite unexpected and surprise to his party. Because his name had never figured among the possible fence-sitters.