By IANS,
Hyderabad : Telugu film actor and former union minister U.V. Krishnam Raju did not figure in the second list of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates for the Lok Sabha seats from Andhra Pradesh, adding to the speculations that he was planning to join the ruling Congress.
BJP state president Bandaru Dattatreya Tuesday released the second list of candidates for the next month’s elections.
The list includes five candidates for the Lok Sabha polls and 57 for assembly elections. When asked about Krishnam Raju’s candidature, Dattatreya said it would be announced in the coming days.
Speculations were rife for some time that Krishnam Raju was planning to quit the BJP to join the Congress.
Krishnam Raju, who represented Narsapur Lok Sabha constituency in West Godavari district, was minister of state for external affairs in the BJP-led NDA government from 1999 to 2004. He, however, lost 2004 elections from the same constituency.
The 68-year-old actor-turned-politician, who began his political career with the Congress in the late 1980s, is reportedly planning to stage a “home-coming”.
The BJP, however, has claimed that he had no such plans.
The BJP March 13 released the first list of candidates for eight Lok Sabha and 43 assembly constituencies.
Simultaneous elections to 294-member state legislative assembly and 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state will be held in two phases of April 16 and April 23.