What could be the reason for the sudden announcement by retired IPS officer and former Andhra Pradesh intelligence chief A B Venkateswara Rao about his plans to enter politics at this stage, when there is absolutely no political vacuum in the state?
This question has become a hot topic for discussion in the state political circles now.
ABV was one of the favourite officers of Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu, who made him the state intelligence chief during his regime.
After the TDP lost power in 2019, he had become a target for the YSR Congress party (YSRCP) government led by then chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy.
Reason: Jagan believed that it was ABV who played a big role in luring several YSRCP MLAs into the TDP through coercion and threat when Naidu was the chief minister.
During the Jagan government, ABV was eventually suspended on the grounds that he misused surveillance equipment to entice ruling party legislators.
ABV challenged the suspension and fought a legal battle up to the Supreme Court, which ultimately gave him relief.
Like ABV, several politicians and industrialists from Kamma community were subject to witch-hunt during the Jagan government.
Even Naidu was thrown behind the bars for nearly two months, while many other Kamma TDP leaders were harassed and their businesses were ruined.
After Naidu returned to power in June 2024, Kammas expected that Naidu would take a revenge against Jagan and other Reddy leaders who targeted the Kamma community during the Jagan regime, while ABV was expecting a bigger role in the government.
But ABV was given the position of Chairman of the Police Housing Corporation — something he considered an insult and refused to accept.
At the same time, Kammas were also terribly upset with Naidu for not showing any interest in getting Jagan arrested and was adopting a lenient attitude towards other YSRCP leaders.
Obviously, Naidu seems to be acting cautiously, likely to avoid a repeat of what happened when Jagan jailed Naidu. This caution is not sitting well with many TDP supporters.
To appease them, the Kamma community leaders are understood to have roped in ABV to unleash a campaign against Jagan and take revenge on him.
“What Naidu is not able to do fearing political backlash, ABV will do,” sources said.
By entering politics and targeting Jagan, ABV may be trying to satisfy the expectations of his community using their support and resources.
However, he may not float a new party immediately, nor can he join the TDP formally, as he would have to go by Naidu’s orders.
Therefore, he is likely to work parallelly with TDP, taking on Jagan and trying to consolidate support within his own community, sources added.