Haribabu resigns as AP BJP unit prez

Kambhampati Haribabu today resigned as BJP's Andhra Pradesh unit president, amid speculation that he may soon be inducted into the Union Cabinet.

Haribabu is currently a Lok Sabha member from Visakhapatnam and has been holding fort as state BJP president since 2014 after the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.

In his resignation letter sent to party chief Amit Shah, Haribabu wanted "young leadership" to take over in view of the current political situation in the state.

Party sources aver that his exit may pave way for a new president from a different community.

For the last two years, speculation has been rife that Haribabu, a Kamma community leader, would be replaced by a Kapu leader and even the name of MLC Somu Veerraju did the rounds.

But Shah maintained status quo because the BJP was sailing with the Telugu Desam party.

With the TDP snapping ties with the BJP, a leadership change became inevitable, party sources said.

Also, there are indications that the Union Cabinet may be expanded after the May 12 Karnataka assembly polls and Haribabu could get a berth.

In fact, he was tipped to be inducted during the previous expansion but that did not happen.

Now that Andhra Pradesh virtually does not have any representation in the Union Cabinet, BJP leaders here see Haribabu as a favourite to get a berth.

Commerce and Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu, technically, represents Andhra Pradesh in the Union Cabinet as he is a Rajya Sabha member from the state but he hails from Maharashtra.