Telangana Nagara Samithi to merge with BJP on June 3

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Former Andhra Pradesh minister Nagam Janardhana Reddy Thursday announced that he would merge his Telangana Nagara Samithi with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) next month.

He told reporters that the outfit would be formally merged with the BJP on June 3.

Janardhana Reddy if BJP leadership permit him, he would contest for Lok Sabha from Mahabubnagar constituency.

He claimed that BJP alone can achieve separate statehood to Telangana. He also said if Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was declared as BJP's prime ministerial candidate, this would help the party form the government at the centre on its own.

Janardhana Reddy is currently an independent member of state legislative assembly from Nagarkurnool constituency in his native Mahabubnagar district.

A senior leader of Telugu Desam Party (TDP), he had staged revolt with two other leaders to protest the party's stand over Telangana issue. They were suspended from the party in 2011.

He quit as a member of state assembly last year and was re-elected from the same constituency as an independent in the by-election. He floated a separate outfit and had been actively participating in the movement for separate Telangana state.

The 64-year-old is seven time legislator from Nagarkurnool constituency.