Vijayawada MP Kesineni Srinivas (Nani) on January 10 (Wednesday) quit the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and submitted his resignation as a Member of Parliament to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. Mr. Srinivas, after meeting Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, announced that he would join the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) after his resignation was accepted by the TDP leadership.
Mr. Srinivas posted the resignation letters sent to TDP leadership and Lok Sabha Speaker on his social media platform ‘X’.
“I have submitted my resignation to my membership of Loksabha Vijayawada to the Honourable Speaker through email and requested him to accept my resignation with immediate effect. I have resigned for the primary membership of @JaiTDP with immediate effect,” he posted on ‘X’ on January 10 (Wedensday) evening.
Addressing the media, Mr. Srinivas said, “The resignation letters relating to his Lok Sabha post and TDP membership were already sent. Neither did I ask for a ticket from the TDP leadership nor will I ask the same from Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy. I would like to travel with Mr. Jagan Moghan Reddy,” he said.
Stating that he would do anything for Vijayawda, Mr. Srinivas said that he successfully contested from Vijayawada Lok Sabha constituency in 2014 and 2019 and that the TDP national president N. Chandrababu Naidu “hardly gave any funds for it”.
Claiming that he had sold properties worth ₹2,000 crore for the TDP, Mr. Srinivas alleged that that his services were “never recognised”.
Mr. Srinuivas said that he had closed down all his businesses to shoulder the responsibility of the TDP in the undivided Krishna district and that he had placed the party above his businesses. “I made sincere efforts during Mr. Naidu’s padayatra and local body elections. But the TDP leadership stooped down to such a level that it fired off the shoulders of a party Polit Bureau member. The Mayor post was promised to Swetha (his daughter) and she had contested the election following Mr. Naidu’s suggestion. A characterless person had said that he would beat me with footwear. I have put up with all such insults as Mr. Naidu had asked me to continue in the party,” he said.
Dig at Naidu
He further said, “Everyone knows that Mr. Naidu is a cheat and betrayer. The leaders from my own party (TDP) made scathing remarks after I announced to quit the party. Above all, the TDP created a wedge in my family. TDP national general secretary N. Lokesh instigated my family members to attack me.”
Mr. Srinivas claimed that Vijayawada was developed solely due to his efforts. “Mr. Naidu had made tall claims that he would build Amaravati like Shahjahan had built the Taj Mahal. But nothing happened. Vijayawada shows the reality and Amaravati is still a dream,” he added.
The TDP leadership had informed Mr. Srinivas that he would not be fielded from Vijayawada Lok Sabha seat in 2024 elections. TDP leaders Alapati Rajendra Prasad, Nettem Raghuram and Konakalla Narayana Rao conveyed the message to Mr. Srinivas that the party leadership had decided to field a new candidate from Vijayawada seat.
