Three sitting MPs have quit the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) after Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy took up the rejig of party in-charges for Assembly and Lok Sabha constutuencies. Even as the YSRCP leadership is putting in efforts to bring them back to the party’s fold again, grapevines suggest that more sitting MPs or MLAs are likely to follow the suit.
The YSRCP began the rejig exercise to field the winning horses in the Assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies ahead of the general elections which are likely to be held in less than two months from now.
The YSRCP leadership has released seven lists and announced in-charges for 68 of the total 175 Assembly constituencies and 16 of the total 25 Lok Sabha constituencies in Andhra Pradesh. However, the exercise led many leaders sulking and disgruntlement among the leaders who were either dropped or shifted to other constituencies began to surface.
At least 10 sitting MLAs are said to be unhappy with the rejig exercise, despite the party leadership making them clear that survey reports were against them. Leaders such as Kapu Ramachandra Reddy, Burra Madhusudan Yadav and Gummanur Jayaram among others are said to be in that group.
It is learnt that the YSRCP senior leaders persuaded the dissident leaders that the leadership would recognise their services even if the tickets were denied to them. Consequently, some of them reconciled, while a few are not mincing their words to express their displeasure. Now, there is a talk in the party circles that a few more sitting MPs and senior leaders are likely to quit the camp.
MPs Adala Prabhakar Reddy (Lok Sabha), Vemireddy Prabhakar Reddy (Rajya Sabha), Labour Minister Gummanur Jayaram, and others are said to be unhappy with the party’s decisions. “They might not contest with the YSRCP symbol,” sources say.
It may be recalled that Narasaraopet MP Lavu Srikrishna Devarayalu, Kurnool MP Sanjeev Kumar and Machilipatnam MP Vallabhaneni Balashowry have quit the party, citing personal reasons. Mr. Devarayalu stated that he was “disillusioned and confused” after he was told that he was being shifted to Guntur Lok Sabha constituency as the leadership had decided to field a Backward Classes (BC) candidate from Narasaraopet seat.
Mangalagiri MLA A. Ramakrishna Reddy, who defeated TDP national general secretary N. Lokesh, also quit the party after he was denied a ticket and a BC candidate was appointed as the constituency in-charge. The YSRCP senior leaders are persuading the disappointed leaders and are hopeful that they would understand the party’s line, sources say.
