Former UPA minister D Purandeswari decides to join BJP

Zee Media Bureau New Delhi: In what has come as a boost to BJP`s fortunes in Andhra Pradesh, former UPA minister Daggubati Purandeswari on Thursday decided to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Purandeswari`s husband Daggubati Venkateswara Rao, MLA from Parchoor in Prakasam, too will join the BJP. The Vishakhapatnam MP had resigned from the UPA governmnet as well as from the primary membership of the Congress after the Parliament cleared the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh to create Telangana. “You have cut our throats and pushed us into bonfire” Purandeswari had said in a letter to Congress secretary in-charge of Andhra Pradesh Digvijay Singh. Purandeswari is the daughter of Telegu Desam Party (TDP) founder late NT Rama Rao. As per reports, the BJP leadership has offered them tickets from their respective constituencies. More importantly, there are also indications that Purandeswari may be given the reigns of the party in Andhra Pradesh.