AP Chief Minister and ruling YSR Congress president Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy had made up his mind to drop at least 40 sitting MLAs for the 2024 general election. He had given enough indication to these MLAs in the last four months.

Jagan Mohan Reddy held two rounds of meetings with the party MLAs, district unit presidents and the regional coordinators in the past where he named some of the MLAs who were not performing well. He also announced the names of some MLAs who were not taking part in the door-to-door campaign that was started by the party and the state government as well in March 2022.

The chief minister has asked every MLA to visit every house and get feedback. While a good number of MLAs have taken active part in the programme, it was noticed that these MLAs were not showing any interest, despite Jagan Mohan Reddy’s cautions.

Former minister and MLA Anam Ramanarayana Reddy is said to be one of these 40 non-performing MLAs whom Jagan Mohan Reddy had warned at the party internal meetings.

Ramanarayana Reddy had been inactive for the past some time as he was denied a cabinet berth in the recent reshuffle. Though Ramanarayana Reddy expected a cabinet berth immediately after the 2019 general election, he was disappointed.

Some of the senior leaders along with Ramanarayana Reddy expected that they would be accommodated in the next reshuffle. However, in that too, they could not find a place leading to disappointment.

Ramanarayana Reddy hardly took part in the door-to-door campaign despite repeated warnings from the party leadership. However, this week, he addressed two meetings in his home constituency where he criticised the state government for its failures.

Sources say that Ramanarayana Reddy is likely to switch loyalties to the opposition TDP before the 2024 general elections.