R Sambasiva Rao, a member of parliament who was expelled by the Congress last month, has entered Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam Party. (File photo)
In election season, Andhra Pradesh appears to have a full take-away menu of politicians. Today's special saw two sets of bothers changing sides.
G Vivekanand, a member of parliament, returned to the Congress nearly 10 months after he left it, along with his brother, G Vinod. (
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Mr Vivekanand had shifted allegiance in June to the Telangana Rashtriya Samiti led by K Chandrasekhar Rao or KCR, who headlined the movement for the region of Telangana to be reconfigured as India's 29th state.
Mr Vivekanand's constituency is in Telangana, so joining KCR when he was championing a Telangana state was politically beneficial.
Defending his ride back to the Congress today, he said he had always vowed to return to the mothership if it managed to get parliamentary approval needed for a new state. That happened in February, making his return over-due, the MP claimed.
"When I left, I gave a word that I will come back to Congress after Telangana is given. It has been given, so I am going back," he said.
Two other politicians today rode the conveyor belt over to another party. R Sambasiva Rao, a member of parliament who was expelled by the Congress last month, has entered Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam Party (TDP). He is accompanied by his brother, who had quit the Congress in a gesture of support.
Mr Rao is not from Telangana - he was among the squad of six MPs who were sacked by the Congress for disrupting parliament in an attempt to delay the debate and vote on the proposal to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh.
Mr Rao said only his new party, commanded by Mr Naidu, can ensure the development of Seemandhra - the two regions of Andhra Pradesh that will form the residuary state.