The opposition Telugu Desam Party on Friday suffered yet another setback with senior MP C Ramachandraiah quitting the party following differences with the leadership amid indications that he may join the yet-to-be-launched party by Telugu superstar Chiranjeevi.
A prominent backward class leader from Kadapa district in Rayalaseema region, Ramachandraiah is a member of Rajya Sabha.
Ramachandraiah, a charted accountant by profession, was said to be nursing a strained relationship with party president N Chandrababu Naidu for some time now.
"The present leadership has abandoned the policies enunciated by our party patriarch late N T Rama Rao. It is the personal agenda that is dominating the party policies now," Ramachandraiah said while addressing his supporters at Kupparadoddi village in Kadapa district.
He said he had made sincere efforts to convince Naidu to change his ways but could not succeed.
"Since I could not change him, I have decided to change the party," Ramachandraiah said, adding that he was confident that a party wedded to social justice and equality will emerge soon.
His exit came in the backdrop of large-scale desertions from the regional party. Senior Backward Class leader T Devender Goud, widely seen as second-in-command, had resigned from the party last month to fight for separate Telangana state.
It was soon followed by resignation of former MP B Nagi Reddy and his wife Shobha in Kurnool district.
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