See how Purandeswari is different from Somu Veerraju

The ruling YSRCP never had any complaint against Somu Veerraju, the BJP president of the immediate past in Andhra Pradesh. But, not so with the newcomer Daggubati Purandeswari. Soon after taking over, she declared a war on the ruling YSRCP and began attacking it right left and centre.

Unlike Veerraju, she said Amaravati was the capital of the state. She did not subscribe to the three-capitals talk. In fact, she also made right noises about political alliances. She said the BJP will have a political and electoral alliance with the Jana Sena. This too was unlike Somu Veerraju, who parried questions on the issues.

More significantly, she has begun attacking the YSRCP government's the indiscriminate loans to service welfare schemes. She also pointed out that there is large-scale fund diversion in Andhra Pradesh. She has even met Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman to request her not to release funds for the state government, which, she said, was mismanaging the amounts.

Somu Veerraju never did anything to make the tap of the central government's support run dry. Though he made noises, he never went to the extent of seeking a ban on releasing funds for the state government. She said even Polavaram funds were being mismanaged. Somu Veerraju never did this, sources point out.