Ichchapuram… this constituency is quite important for the YSRCP. It is here that YSR’s historic Praja Prasthanam yatra culminated. It is here that Sharmila’s yatra concluded in 2012. Again, Jagan’s game-changing Praja Sankalpa Yatra too ended here amid much tumult and pomp. But the tragedy is that the party has failed to win the Ichchapuram assembly constituency both in 2014 and 2019.

What more? In this sentimentally and emotionally significant constituency, the condition within the YSRCP is none too encouraging. The party in Ichchapuram is being led by an outsider. Piriya Sairaj, who is the party incharge for the constituency is imported from the TDP. He was given the party ticket in 2019, but lost the election. TDP’s Ashok Bendalam has won in both 2014 and 2019.

The second-rung leadership in YSRCP is up in arms against Piriya Sairaj. They are unhappy that turncoats are being given more importance in the party. The dissidents gave a torrid time to Sairaj during the panchayat elections. Similarly, during the municipal elections too, the dissidence reached its peaks. Intervention by Minister Dharmana Krishnadas saved the day for the YSRP. Now, the issue of election of the municipal co option members is causing tremors in the constituency. Here too, the party is divided into pro-Sairaj and anti-Sairaj groups.

This dispute is now causing tension in the YSRCP. Minister Dharmana Krishna Das has refused to intervene this time. The anti-Sairaj group is now going on the offensive. This condition of the party is giving sleepless nights to the leaders. Party’s internal struggles in a sentimentally and emotionally important constituency is the talk of the town.