Planning a comeback to Andhra Pradesh politics, actress-turned-politician Jayaprada is keen to contest the Lok Sabha election from Rajahmundry, her hometown.
Expelled from the Samajwadi Party in 2010, the independent MP from Rampur in Uttar Pradesh has not yet decided which party she will join.
However, by showering praise on former chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy who died in 2009, she dropped enough hints that she may join the YSR Congress, headed by Reddy’s son Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, currently in jail in a corruption case.
By criticising N Chandrababu Naidu for losing credibility among the masses, the 52-year-old ruled out her return to the Telugu Desam Party (TDP).
Jayaprada may take a final decision to join the YSR Congress only after she gets an assurance from the party that she would be fielded from Rajahmundry.
Sources said she may call on Jaganmohan Reddy in jail before taking a final decision.
There was speculation earlier that she would join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which won the Rajahmundry seat in 1998 and 1999.
With TDP again planning to field veteran actor M Murali Mohan, Rajahmundry may witness a war between two stars in the next Lok Sabha election.
In 2009, Murali Mohan lost narrowly to V Arun Kumar, who retained the seat for a second term.
Another veteran actor, U V Krishnam Raju, who had contested as a Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) candidate, finished third.
Jayaprada, born April 3, 1962, in Rajahmundry, spent her birthday in the temple town of Tirupati. She reportedly discussed her political plans with former chairman of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) Adikeshavulu Naidu, whose son is a leader of the YSR Congress.
The two-time MP from Rampur rated YSR on par with N T Rama Rao, at whose invitation she joined TDP in 1994.
“People are looking for a leader of YSR’s stature after his sudden and sad demise,” she told reporters. She also expressed her sympathies for Jaganmohan Reddy and alleged that the Congress was targeting him.
She said people were taking cognizance of the hardships he was being subjected to. She compared this to the problems she faced in the Samajwadi Party.
Coming down heavily on SP leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, she accused him of hounding her out of the party.
Once described by Satyajit Ray as one the prettiest woman in the world, Jayaprada began her political career with TDP in 1994 by joining it at the invitation of party founder N T Rama Rao. She backed Chandrababu Naidu when he led a revolt against his father-in-law and became the chief minister in 1995.