VIJAYAWADA: To the surprise and anguish of many YSRC leaders, five last-minute defectors to the party have bagged four MP and one MLA seats. The list announced on Sunday had the names of the leaders who have joined the party just a day before, that is Saturday night.
YSRC sources said that the party leadership, which earlier announced to release the list of contestants on March 16, had to postpone it due to the murder of YS Vivekananda Reddy.
On Saturday after the final rites of Vivekananda Reddy, Jagan flew back to Hyderabad and met Governor ESL Narasimhan to apprise him about the murder of his uncle and seek CBI inquiry probe into the case. “It was initially decided to announce the list on Saturday itself, but it was deferred due to the last-minute defections,’’ sources said.
And finally, after the leaders joined, the YSRC offered MP and MLA seats to them. Some of them were in constant touch with the YSRC leadership, but were waiting to know that what’s in store for them in their parent party.
Take for instance the case of Adala Prabhakar Reddy, the TDP leader who was given the Nellore Rural Assembly ticket. He weighed various options and grabbed the opportunity given by the YSRC — Nellore MP seat. “The YSRC was waiting for a suitable leader to field for the Nellore Lok Sabha seat as it’s surveys suggested a change,’’ a source said. Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy was the party’s former MP from Nellore. And by morning, Prabhakar Reddy was announced as YSRC’s Nellore Lok Sabha candidate.
Another such leader was TDP MLC Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy. Though he had resigned from the party some time back, he did not join the YSRC till the last minute. After he got an assurance that he will be fielded from Ongole MP seat, he decided to join the YSRC. Meanwhile, Srinivasulu Reddy’s candidature in the Ongole MP seat led to the ouster of the party’s former MP and close relative of Jagan, YV Subba Reddy, from the contest.
The most surprising move was the joining of former MLA from Visakhapatnam city and Congress leader Dronamraju Srinivas in the YSRC and his candidature for Visakhapatnam South MLA seat. Former Prathipadu MLA Vanga Geetha too joined the YSRC in the last minute and was picked up to contest Kakinada MP seat. Similarly, former TDP MLA from Gudur, Balle Durgaprasad, was given Tirupati (SC) reserved Lok Sabha seat.