SRIKAKULAM: The YSRC’s decision to renominate sitting MLAs in three Assembly segments—Amadalavalasa, Pathapatnam, and Etcherla—in Srikakulam district has not gone down well with the second rung leaders. These leaders are now mulling over contesting against the YSRC’s candidates as independents.
The party has chosen to renominate Assembly Speaker Tammineni Sitaram from Amadalavalasa, Reddy Shanthi from Pathapatnam and Gorle Kiran Kumar from Etcherla in a bid to win all 175 Assembly seats.
While the YSRC leadership has tried to convince the dissident leaders by threatening to take disciplinary action against them, the rebel leaders are reportedly determined to contest as independents.
All three candidates have been facing opposition from the local leaders in the district for some time now.
In Etcherla, senior leaders like Jarugulla Sankara Rao, Lukalapu Appalanaidu, Ballari Janarthan, Abothula Jagannadham have charged MLA Kiran Kumar, a Kapu leader, with corruption. They also took up a rally ‘MLA Vaddu-Jagan Muddu’ in the constituency with the support of more than 5,000 party workers.
Kumar has also been accused of abetting the suicide of a reporter of a vernacular daily. Further, Jarugulla Sankara Rao alleged that the MLA tried to kill him with the help of another leader, Modalavalasa Chiranjeevi.
The leaders are disappointed that YSRC president and Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy gave the ticket to Kiran Kumar despite all the allegations against him. Sankara Rao, Appalanaidu, and Janarthan have been conducting series of meetings with their followers to file nominations as independents.
In Pathapatnam, too, sitting MLA Reddy Shanthi has been facing strong dissidence from party leaders. Lotugedda Tulasi Varaprasad of Kotturu, Tulugu Tirupathi Rao of Hiramandalam, Shanmukha Rao of Pathapatnam, and a few other leaders from the constituency have accused her of indulging in corrupt activities.
They have been staging protests against her in various parts of the Assembly segment.
When Tulasi Prasad demanded the high command to nominate a local leader from the segment, he was expelled from the party. Following this, he has been conducting a series of meetings with his followers to file for nomination as an independent.
Similarly in Amadalavalasa, Tammineni Sitaram’s candidature is being fervently opposed by Suvvari Gandhi of Ponduru mandal. Suvvari Gandhi had played a key role in the sitting MLA’s victory in 2019. He has now charged the Assembly Speaker with massive corruption.
Though he has not passed any remarks against the YSRC leadership, he is determined to contest as an independent.
A senior party leader opined that Pathapatnam and Etcherla Assembly segments have become the ‘weakest constituencies’ in the State for YSRC. He quickly added, “The failure of the TDP to take advantage of the situation has proved beneficial for the ruling party.” YSRC cadre in these two segments are extremely unhappy, he added.
