Senior MLAs in the ruling YSR Congress, Kolusu Pardha Saradhi and Malladi Vishnu from Krishna and NTR districts are likely to leave the party in a week or so. They are upset with the party leadership which had decided not to field the two MLAs in the coming elections.
Chief Minister and YSR Congress president Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy had taken a call not to field the two MLAs in the coming elections. The chief minister had appointed former minister and Vijayawada West MLA Velampalli Srinivas as incharge of Vijayawada Central Assembly constituency which is now represented by Malladi Vishnu.
The chief minister had also decided to drop Saradhi at Penamaluru Assembly constituency. Saradhi, who joined the party before the 2014 Assembly elections, had expected that the chief minister would take him into the cabinet. However, he missed it in 2019 and expected that he would be in the cabinet at the expansion. Second time too, he missed the bus as the chief minister did not consider his candidature for the cabinet post.
Saradhi had been unhappy with the leadership for some time. He expressed his anguish at the recent public meeting held in Penamaluru as part of the Sadhikara Bus Yatra. The former minister said that despite Jagan Mohan Reddy not recognizing him, the people of Penamaluru have been with him. He made this statement in the presence of the party’s senior leaders and the full public view.
There is talk in the party circles that Saradhi would leave the party soon. There is a speculation that Saradhi had already met TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu a couple of days ago. They talked about the elections and Chandrababu Naidu had promised to accommodate him in the elections from Penamaluru or some constituency. Naidu had also promised a cabinet berth for Saradhi, if he switched over loyalties.
Meanwhile, Pamarru MLA Kaile Anil Kumar held talks with Saradhi and took him to the chief minister on Monday. Party regional coordinator Marri Rajasekhar, Anil Kumar and Saradhi met the chief minister in the evening. Later, Saradhi had discussions with the chief minister for 20 minutes and is said to have not been satisfied and came out of the chief minister’s office with a sad face.
Sources say that Saradhi is likely to take a decision in a week or so and announce it at a public meeting to be held in his constituency. It is to be seen what decision he would take finally!
