New Delhi/Amaravati: Telugu Desam Party Chief N Chandrababu Naidu, who is known to be a shrewd politician, has purportedly sent the four TDP Rajya Sabha MPs to join the BJP as his coverts.

Political analysts see these defections by four Rajya Sabha members as a ploy by Naidu. It is a known fact that all these four Rajya Sabha members; Sujana Chowdary, Garikapati Rammohan Rao, CM Ramesh and TG Venkatesh are close to him and have defected for their vested interests. Chandrababu Naidu who is extremely close to Sujana Choudary and CM Ramesh, is known to have various business interests with them... In short they are known to be his benamis.

Not just that, it is alleged that Chandrababu himself instructed the MPs to join the party to save themselves in various cases opened against them by the Central agencies, including probes by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Income Tax in various cases of bank fraud, tax evasion and alleged money laundering.

Political analysts say that this was a calculated move by Chandrababu since there were many cases pending against him and his son Nara Lokesh. To avoid any issues in the future he has sent these four MPs to save himself and his son from any cases in future.

They also believe that this whole 'defection drama' was staged at a time when he was away on tour to Europe along with his family, while he has completely been aware of the developments. He is also said to be in touch with a senior TDP leader and is running the show from there.

According to known sources, a leader from Rayalseema has said that, "They were acting as per the boss' instructions. Although we are with them (BJP) we still belong here (TDP). Everything is happening as per plan," he said. Another leader who worked closely at the centre said that they were joining the party to avoid the cases pending against them. He is also believed to have said that, "If all goes according to plan, we will come back in a matter of four years".