Mangalagiri: Former minister Kanna Lakshminarayana set to join TDP on Feb 23

Amaravati: Former minister Kanna Lakshminarayana will formally join TDP on February 23. On February 16, Kanna announced his resignation from Bharatiya Janata Party. He plans to go in a huge rally from Guntur to party office in Mangalagiri on Thursday.

Kanna will join the party in the presence of its president and former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu at the party state headquarters in Mangalagiri on Thursday. Several of his supporters will also join TDP on this occasion.

A five-time legislator, he served as BJP state unit president in the last general election. He was a Youth Congress leader and later became a minister in the Congress government.

In BJP, he rose to the rank of state unit president a couple of years ago. He was succeeded by Somu Veerraju. He was a vocal critic of GVL Narasimha Rao and Somuveera Raju. "Due to the political changes happening in the BJP, I cannot anymore continue in this party", said Kanna during his resignation announcement a week ago. He expressed displeasure about BJP leadership in Andhra Pradesh.

A close associate of Kapu leader Vangaveeti Mohana Ranga Rao, he was once a trusted lieutenant of former chief minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy.

According to the sources, Kanna is likely to contest either from Sattenapalli, Pedakurapadu, or Guntur West.