 He ran as a Janata Party candidate, but used Sonia Gandhi's posters and the Congress's manifesto, claiming that, ideologically, he was inseparable from the Congress and, too, that Sonia Gandhi was the best hope for India.He was elected to the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly with a majority of over five thousand votes.Within the House, he was elected to the Floor Leadership of the Janata Party; his expulsion from Congress was eventually annulled and he was in 2004 made an "associate member" of its legislative wing.