Speculation is rife that actress-politician Jayaprada, currently a member of Lok Sabha from Rampur in Uttar Pradesh, is planning to come back to her home state and join the Congress party soon.

The speculation has been triggered following her meeting with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi last week.

"I am returning to AP politics and I will soon announce which party I will join', Jayaprada has been saying in recent days. She has also expressed her desire to contest the next Lok Sabha election from her hometown Rajahmundry. Sitting Congress MP from Rajahmundry Vundavalli Arun Kumar announced the other day that he would be too glad to make way for Jayaprada. "As a loyal Congress solider, I will honour the party decision and work for the victory of its nominee", the two-time MP said.

After films, Jayaprada began her political career in the mid-1990s in the Telugu Desam Party. She was elected to Rajya Sabha in 1996 on behalf of the party from AP. She, however, quit the TDP and joined the Samajwadi Party ahead of the 2004 elections and shifted base to UP. She was elected to Lok Sabha twice from Rampur but subsequently walked out of the SP along with Amar Singh.

In recent times, during her regular visits to the state, Jayaprada has been announcing that she would return to AP politics soon and contest the next election from her hometown.