Following the historic electoral drubbing in hands of the formidable NDA coalition parties in June this year, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has been struggling to keep the flock together as so many prominent leaders including former Ministers and MLAs started deserting the YSR Congress party due to various reasons. While Jagan continues to claim that he will make a strong comeback even if elections are held with immediate effect, many of his party leaders seem to be of the opinion that they are in a sinking ship.
On Thursday, YSRCP received a double whammy as two of its prominent leaders resigned from the party and its membership. While one of them is Grandhi Srinivas from Bhimavaram consistency, the other leaders is Avanthi Srinivas from Bheemili segment. Both these leaders were defeated badly in the 2024 elections in the hands of NDA contestants. They decided to quit the party after expressing disappointment with the high command.
Avanthi Srinivas slammed Jagan Mohan Reddy’s leadership and openly expressed displeasure on the way the former CM handled the party affairs. He also criticised Jagan’s decision to hold protests against the government on various issues and stated that the new regime should be given some more time to fulfil the promises made to the public.
Avanthi Srinivas served as a minister for tourism, culture and youth from 2019 to 2022. He won from Bheemili segment in 2019 elections after jumping from TDP to YSRCP.
On the other side, former Bhimavaram MLA Grandhi Srinivas, who defeated Pawan Kalyan in 2019 elections but lost to Janasena in 2024 elections, also said good bye to YSR Congress party. He sent his resignation letter to Jagan Mohan Reddy and stated that he will stay away from politics for some time. There were rumours that he was planning to join Janasena or TDP a few days ago. But, he didn’t inform about his future plans.
YSR Congress party has already seen a spate of resignations and defections in the last six months in the aftermath of general elections this year in which the party suffered a humiliating defeat as it was relegated to just 11 seats out of 175 seats. Those who resigned from the party included several MLCs, Rajyasabha MPs, former Ministers and ex-MLAs. Many of them have found fault with Jagan’s poor leadership and blamed the coterie beside him.
Leaders like Alla Nani, Mopidevi Venkataramana, Balineni Srinivas, Beeda Mastan Rao, R. Krishnaiah, Kilari Rosaiah Maddala Giri Pendyam Dora Babu etc have resigned from the party so far.
