KURNOOL: The ruling TDP’s foundation day celebrations here on Thursday brought to the fore fissures among Allagadda leaders. Two party leaders — Tourism Minister Bhuma Akhila Priya and AV Subba Reddy — celebrated the event at different places in the town. Their speeches on the occasion did little to mask divisions in the party.
Former Irrigation Development Corporation chairman A V Subba Reddy, a trusted aid of Akhila Priya’s late father Bhuma Nagi Reddy, did not hide his displeasure with the Minister’s recent alleged remarks against him and said he would not hesitate to contest against her from the Allagadda Assembly constituency in the next elections if the Chief Minister gave him a ticket.
Since the death of Bhuma Nagi Reddy in March 2017, the gulf between his daughter and his aide has widened. During the Nandyal Parliament byelection, the factions led by the two leaders were at loggerheads and buried the hatchet only after the intervention of CM N Chandrababu Naidu. But bad blood continued to flow between the two TDP leaders.
For instance, Akhila Priya touched a raw nerve by not inviting Subba Reddy to her father’s first death anniversary recently and, adding insult to injury, the young Minister termed him a wild fox. Reacting to her statement, the senior leader said if Bhuma Nagi Reddy were alive, he would have slapped his daughter.
When contacted by TNIE, Akhila Priya said people of Allagadda knew who served them better. She said Subba Reddy’s utterances were of no consequence as he doesn’t stay in the constituency.
Third jab at TDP
Another TDP leader from the district and former in-charge of Allagadda, Erigela Rampulla Reddy also organized a separate programme to celebrate the TDP’s foundation day. He said if Akhila Priya and Subba Reddy fought, the future of the TDP would be in jeopardy.