Reddy, who is expected to make his decision public in a day or two, will in all probability contest the Miryalguda Lok Sabha seat in Nalgonda district of Andhra Pradesh.

If given the go-ahead by the Congress leadership, he will be replacing member of the dissolved Lok Sabha B N Reddy as the candidate in Miryalguda. B N Reddy will be fielded for the Assembly elections in the State.

The defection of Jaipal Reddy, one of the most visible faces in the Janata Dal and in the non-Congress, non-BJP camp in the last decade or so, will be a major loss for the Deve Gowda-led JD (Secular). An able parliamentarian, he has been arguably the most articulate voice within the JD and the now-defunct United Front of which he was spokesman.

Reddy's decision to switch parties is yet another instance of politicianssuccumbing to the lure of electoral politics. If he had stuck to the JD (S) he would have been nowhere, for the party virtually doesn't exist in Andhra Pradesh. Not a man known to possess a mass base to see him through at the hustings, he had no choice but to join the bandwagon of a major party.

Even his earlier elections to Parliament had been made possible courtesy the Telugu Desam Party (TDP). A virulent critic of the BJP, joining the TDP or taking its support was not an option for him as the TDP has been supporting Prime Minister A B Vajpayee. In the bi-polar politics of Andhra Pradesh, he couldn't have gravitated anywhere except towards the Congress.

In the recent split in the Janata Dal, Reddy chose to side with the Gowda-led JD (S), given his anathema for the BJP with which the other group led by Sharad Yadav is seeking an alliance.