Jayaprada set to join YSR Congress, may contest from Rajahmundry

New Delhi, Apr 4: You have got to hand it to Jayaprada, whenever the question of choosing the right horse arises. In Andhra Pradesh, she first joined N Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam party, when NTR's son-in-law's star was in the ascendance. When the TDP began ignoring her, she joined up with the then influential Amar Singh, who was the trusted lieutenant of Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav. She was elected from Rampur Lok Sabha constituency, despite conspiracies by back-stabbers, of them Azam Khan was prominent. And now, with no chance of getting a ticket from the SP, Jayaprada has made up her mind to return to her roots in Andhra Pradesh. The Rampur MP is all set to join the YSR Congress Party headed by jailed Kadapa MP Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy. Jayaprada, who turned 52 on Wednesday, dropped enough hints to this effect while speaking to mediapersons in Tirupati."I am going to contest from Rajahmundry parliamentary constituency in the next Lok Sabha elections," she said."Though I have invitations from several parties (to join them), I will prefer the party that has been fighting for the people's cause and has a wider acceptability. I will disclose my political plans before April 30."Her expressions of sympathy for Jaganmohan left no one in doubt about which party she would prefer to join."The harassment of committed political leaders has been going on everywhere. In Uttar Pradesh, I treated Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav like my father."But he hounded me out of the party after mentally harassing me."A native of Rajahmundry, Jayaprada was the most glamorous heroine in the Telugu film industry between 1975 and 1995"Congress has been harassing Jaganmohan Reddy as he refused to yield before the high command," Jayaprada said. YSR Congress sources in Hyderabad confirmed that the two-time MP from Rampur was in touch with the party leadership and might meet Jaganmohan in Chanchalguda jail in about a week."We wholeheartedly welcome Jayaprada into our party," the party's central committee member and Jagan's uncle Y.V. Subba Reddy said. Jayaprada had an overnight stay at the residence of liquor baron and former Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam Trust board chairman M. Adikesavulu Naidu, whose son Srinivasa Naidu is a popular leader of the YSR Congress Party in Tirupati and a prospective candidate from Rajampet parliamentary seat, says a media report. Jayaprada is learnt to have discussed her political plans with Naidu during her stay, sources said. Jayaprada has been hinting at returning to Andhra Pradesh politics ever since she was expelled from the Samajwadi Party on February 2, 2010, for supporting Amar Singh. She and Amar floated a new political outfit - Rashtriya Lok Manch - in July 2011, but his illness and subsequent political oblivion left her at the crossroads. Jayaprada made her political debut with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in 1994 following an invitation from N.T. Rama Rao.After NTR's death in January 1996, she was nominated to the Rajya Sabha and was also made president of the TDP's women's wing. In 2002, however, she was denied a second term in the Upper House and was replaced by actress Roja as Telugu Mahila president. A miffed Jayaprada distanced herself from the TDP and moved to Uttar Pradesh to join the Samajwadi Party. With Amar's backing, she was elected to the Lok Sabha from Rampur in 2004 and 2009.