VIJAYAWADA: In a major jolt to the YSRC, Eluru Mayor Shaik Noorjahan, along with her husband SMR Pedababu, and other leaders, joined the TDP in the presence of party general secretary and HRD Minister Nara Lokesh at his Undavalli residence on Tuesday.
The resignation of Noorjahan has come as a rude shock to the YSRC cadre in Eluru and West Godavari districts. This comes close on the heels of former Deputy Chief Minister Alla Kali Krishna Srinivas (Nani) tendering his resignation to the YSRC primary membership.
Welcoming the YSRC leaders into the TDP fold, Lokesh said the YSRC did not learn any lessons from the election debacle, and resorted to launch a false propaganda against the people’s government. “The TDP-led NDA government will fulfil all the election promises,” he asserted.
YSRC Eluru city president B Srinivas, AMC former chairman Mancham Maibabu and other leaders also joined the TDP.
Speaking on the occasion, the Mayor said they joined the TDP to become part of the city’s development. Around 40 corporators of Eluru Municipal Corporation (EMC) are ready to join the TDP, she said.
Alleging that Alla Nani ditched the YSRC activists, and resigned from the party, Eluru MLA Badeti Radhakrishna (Chanti) said they would welcome all those coming forward to join the TDP for the development of Eluru.
Speaking to the media at Eluru earlier in the day, Noorjahan said, “In a democracy one has to respect the mandate of the people, who gave a brute majority to the NDA in the Assembly elections. The EMC is facing financial crunch for the development of the city. The YSRC did not learn any lesson from the debacle in the elections. There is no self introspection or discussion in the party. We are frustrated with the indifferent attitude of the party leadership and quit the YSRC.’’
The EMC has 50 divisions and the YSRC won 47 of them in the 2021 elections, while the TDP got just three. With the Mayor herself joining the TDP, more YSRC corporators are likely to join the TDP in the coming days and the party may wrest the municipal corporation from the YSRC.