YSRCP minister Jayaram joins TDP

Vijayawada: In another jolt to the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) ahead of Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, state Labour and Employment Minister, Gummanur Jayaram on Tuesday resigned from the party and announced that he would be joining the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) soon.

The leader told media persons here that he had resigned as a minister as well as from the primary membership of the YSRCP and would join the TDP to contest the Assembly election on their ticket from Guntakal constituency. He said YSRCP President and Chief Minister, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, had asked him to contest the Lok Sabha elections, but he refused the offer.

“As the YSRCP assigned another candidate for my constituency (Alur), I felt hurt and left the party,” he said. Gummanur Jayaram said TDP President, N Chandrababu Naidu, asked him whether he wanted to contest from Kurnool or Anantapur, but he chose Guntakal as he wanted to serve the region where he was born.