More than a year after resigning from the YSR Congress party and her membership in the Andhra Pradesh legislative council, former YSRCP women’s wing president Pothula Sunitha joined the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Sunitha, who hails from Chirala constituency in Bapatla district, was formally inducted into the party at Visakhapatnam in the presence of party president and Union health minister J P Nadda.
This is the third political party Sunitha has joined in her two decades of political career.
Sunitha began her political journey with the TDP as a ZPTC member from Alampur in Telangana.
Though she aspired for the party ticket from Anantapur in 2004 elections, she was forced to contest from Alampur assembly constituency, which she lost.
She tried for the TDP ticket again in 2009 from Penukonda and for Anantapur seat in 2014 but she did not get it. In 2014, she contested from Chirala in Prakasam district, but lost the elections.
In 2017, she was nominated to the state legislative council under MLAs’ quota. But in December 2019, she created a sensation by voting in support of three capitals and abolition of APCRDA.
She resigned from the TDP on January 22, 2020 and resigned from her MLC seat in October 2020.
Sunitha got re-elected to the state legislative council in March 2021. In 2023, she was renominated as an MLC by YSRCP.
But soon after the YSRCP lost the power in the May 2024 elections, Sunitha resigned from the party and MLC seat in August 2024. Her resignation from the MLC seat has not been accepted yet.
According to sources, Sunitha made a desperate bid to stage a comeback into the TDP, but party general secretary and state IT minister Nara Lokesh strongly rejected her plans.
Reason: when she was in the YSRCP, she made strong and derogatory comments against Chandrababu Naidu and Lokesh.
She also made an attempt to join Jana Sena but she was rejected by Pawan Kalyan. Having no other option, she lobbied to gain entry into the BJP for her political sustenance.
It is not immediately known whether the BJP had consulted its alliance partners before admitting Sunitha, but analysts say it would hardly make any difference, unless the BJP asks for any MLC seat or MLA seat for her in the coming days.
“Her induction may not substantially strengthen the BJP’s base in Andhra Pradesh; as there are no takers for her now because of her frequent political somersaults. Moreover, she will be a liability to the BJP because of her Naxalite background,” sources said.