BJP MLA quits party in AP

The BJP suffered a setback in Andhra Pradesh Sunday as one of its four MLAs resigned from his Assembly membership and the party.

Akula Satyanarayana, MLA from Rajamahendravaram (Urban) constituency said he sent-in his resignation letter to Assembly Speaker Kodela Sivaprasada Rao.

He also sent another letter to BJP state president Kanna Lakshmi Narayana stating that he was quitting the party as well.

Later, Satyanarayana issued a statement to the media here announcing his resignation, but did not specify any reasons for his action.

A doctor, who was elected to the Assembly for the first time in 2014, said he would join the Jana Sena Party of actor Pawan Kalyan on Monday.

Satyanarayana was one of the four MLAs to have been elected on behalf of the BJP, which fought the 2014 election in alliance with the TDP.

He had been staying away from party affairs for some time now, reportedly disgruntled that the BJP did not honour its promises made to the state post-bifurcation.

Sources close to him said Satyanarayana would speak out after formally joining the Jana Sena.

Meanwhile, speculation is rife in political circles that another BJP MLA P Vishnu Kumar Raju from Visakhapatnam North was also ready to leave the BJP.

While he is non-committal on which party he may join upon quitting the BJP, Raju has reportedly been telling his close friends that he will contest the upcoming Assembly election again from Visakhapatnam North constituency.