The YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) appears to continue a damage control exercise as former Energy Minister Balineni Srinivasa Reddy remains firm on resigning as the party’s regional coordinator.
Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy discussed various issues with Mr. Srinivasa Reddy at Tadepalli on June 1 (Thursday), sources in the party said here.
Mr. Srinivasa Reddy was not happy after he was removed from the State Cabinet mid-way through the five-year term even as several of his colleagues were retained after the reshuffle. The indication ahead of the reshuffle was that the Chief Minister would opt for a new set of Ministers.
According to sources close to Mr. Srinivasa Reddy, he had been raising objections over the emergence of parallel power centres in Prakasam district led by Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams Chairman Y.V. Subba Reddy, and Municipal Administration Minister A. Suresh, who are said to have nurtured the second-rung party leaders in all Assembly constituencies.
Mr. Srinivasa Reddy was upset with some MLAs, for whom he had ensured the party tickets in 2019 elections, are speaking ill of him to the Chief Minister and other senior leaders including YSRCP general secretary Sajalla Ramakrishna Reddy, the sources said, adding that the former Minister was pained as the situation turned worse from when he was given a free hand to select the candidates for the Assembly seats in 2019. He had been calling the shots ever since he decided to sail with Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy after quitting the Congress in 2011.
Mr. Srinivasa Reddy was not at all at ease in handling the party affairs in the districts of Nellore, Tirupati and Chittoor, where Ministers Kakani Govardhan Reddy, Bhumana Karunakar Reddy, R.K. Roja and Peddireddi Ramachandra Reddy ruled the roost and the party faced dissidence in undivided Nellore district, where three MLAs had raised the banner of revolt, the sources said.
