The question whether Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy has any clarity on his political future is going rounds among his followers and the leaders of other political parties. The gap between former MP Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy and the high command of Bharata Rastra Samithi has widened in the recent times and he started listing the number of injustices done by Chief Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao after he joined the TRS from YSRCP. He did not attend the BRS meeting in Khammam and conducting, instead, a meeting of his followers from various assembly constituencies in Khammam and Bhadradri-Kothagudem districts. Instead of divulging his mind, the former MP is seeking the opinion of the leaders, whoever met him. “We will consider your observations before taking decision,” is his stock reply to everybody.
There are several options before him including Congress and BJP and Ponguleti is calculating the pros and cons before choosing one of them. Firstly, Congress had a certain vote bank and it will fetch his political career if he joined it. But, the seniors in Congress may create hurdles to his path and he has to convince or satisfy the seniors in the district from day one. Getting Congress party tickets is not an easy thing.
If he joins the BJP, he (Ponguleti) should bring votes to the party on his own strength. The positive point is – he may be given some sort of freedom and his followers can get certain berths. According to reliable sources, he did not get any calls recently either from the high command of BJP or from Congress so far. It is learnt that he is not in haste to join the national parties without assurance from these parties. There is a long wish-list from him before the parties.
In the meanwhile, Gattu Ramachandra Rao of Khammam district who has been in and out of many parties is understood to have made his leader Sharmila talk to Srinivasa Reddy inviting him to join YSRCPT. PCC President Revanth Reddy is particular to have Srinivasa Reddy in the Congress.
Ponguleti might take some more time for his next decision. Till such time, he plans to visit mandals to consolidate his bond with his followers and people. B Bhaskara Rao, a political activist, said, “The meter reading (expenditure) will start immediately after Ponguleti joins a political party. Consolidating his strength is also one of his strategies as an independent political leader. It is a fact that some of his followers may feel irksome with his dillydallying. But hasty decisions are not good either. There is ten months time for assembly elections in Telangana”
Tailpiece- One of his followers says that he may not hesitate to be in BRS if the party chief sent proper signals to him. In case of other option, he may not hesitate to consider YSRCP or YSRTP. Which means he has kept his options wide open.
