KAKINADA: As the recent visit of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy to the erstwhile combined East Godavari district has reportedly ended the political dissidence in the Ramachandrapuram Assembly constituency, the ruling YSRC leaders are anticipating a similar end to the rumblings in Peddapuram and Prathipadu segments, where the party is facing squabbles.
While in Ramachandrapuram, the YSRC faced a severe rift between Rajya Sabha member Pilli Subhash Chandra Bose and Minister for BC Welfare Chelluboina Srinivas Venugopal Krishna, a former MLA and a few senior leaders are vying for the party ticket in Peddapuram and Prathipadu.
Peddapuram is currently represented by N Chinnarajappa of TDP. Davuluru Dorababu, who unsuccessfully contested from Peddapuram on the YSRC ticket in the 2019 elections, has been made Chairman of the AP State Housing Corporation Limited. However, there seems to be stiff opposition to his candidature from senior YSRC leaders, including Atchempet Chinababu and Goli Venkata Swamy in the next elections.
YSRC regional coordinator PV Midhun Reddy, who recently convened a meeting of party leaders to quell the dissidence, had reportedly made it clear that Dorababu would contest the next elections from Peddapuram. This had reportedly made the opposition group maintain stoic silence, but sources said they have not budged. The dissident groups may be a major cause of worry for the YSRC in the next elections, an analyst felt.
In Prathipadu, sitting YSRC MLA Parvatha Purnachandra Prasad seems to be facing opposition from Varupula Subba Rao. Though Subba Rao won on the YSRC ticket in 2014, he was denied a seat in the last elections. “Subba Rao now wants the ticket for a close family member. He has reportedly conveyed his intentions to the party high command and he is unlikely to extend cooperation to the sitting MLA if the party declines the seat to the candidate of his choice. A couple of senior leaders and a few ZPTC members and Mandal Parishad presidents are also eyeing the Assembly segment,’’ party sources revealed.
It may be recalled that the Ramachandrapuram episode had caused much embarrassment to the YSRC leadership. Though Pilli wanted the Ramachandrapuram segment for his son in the next elections, Chelluboina was not ready to vacate the seat. When Jagan visited the constituency on August 11, he made Pilli and Chelluboina bury the hatchet and directed them to work with coordination for the victory of the party in the next elections.
He reportedly told them that the selection of candidates will solely depend on their winning prospects based on different surveys. The YSRC leaders are of the view that Jagan, who is likely to visit Samalkot in the next couple of days, will put an end to dissidence in the two key constituencies.