NELLORE: Now, it is official. Rebel YSRC MLAs Anam Ramanarayana Reddy and Mekapati Chandrasekhar Reddy are set to shift their loyalties to TDP. Anam announced his decision on Saturday after he met TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu at the latter’s residence in Hyderabad on Friday.
Senior TDP leaders, including Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy, N Amarnath Reddy, Beeda Ravichandra and others visited Anam’s house and discussed the latest political developments in Nellore. Further, Anam announced his decision to shift his loyalties to TDP next month. Anam said he would strive to strengthen TDP in the Nellore district with the support of other leaders. Yuva Galam Padayatra of Nara Lokesh will enter the Nellore district from Kadapa on June 13.
“We are planning to make Lokesh’s padayatra a grand success in the district. I will take TDP membership after the end of Yuva Galam Padayatra in the district,” said Anam. Mekapati also announced that he would work in TDP without aspiring for the party ticket in the next elections.
Mekapati met Lokesh during his padayatra at Badvel in Kadapa district on Saturday. The Udayagiri MLA reiterated that he would work for the TDP in the constituency and take steps to ensure the success of Yuva Galam Padayatra in Nellore. “I have discussed the latest political developments in the constituency with Lokesh at Badvel. I and two other MLAs will shift our loyalties to TDP in the ensuing elections,” Mekapati revealed.
With the announcements of the two rebel YSRC MLAs shifting their loyalties to the opposition TDP , the political scenario has changed in the district. The TDP is likely to gain strength with the entry of the two suspended YSRC MLAs into its fold. It seems to be tough for the ruling YSRC to keep its record of making a clean sweep in the next general elections.
In the 2019 elections, the YSRC bagged all the 10 Assembly seats in the erstwhile undivided Nellore district and also won Nellore and Tirupati Lok Sabha constituencies. During the Cabinet rejig, P Anil Kumar Yadav was dropped. After that, internal bickerings in the YSRC district unit came to the fore.
Though the YSRC leadership could manage to calm down the dissidence by convincing the leaders, it is likely to impact the prospects of the YSRC in the next elections. “The suspension of rebel MLAs has come as a shot in the arm for the TDP, which is trying to regain its lost glory in Nellore district,” observed a political analyst.