Home » Andhra Pradesh » Sidelined Ysrcp Mla Alla Ramakrishna Reddy Resigns From Party Assembly

‘Sidelined’ YSRCP MLA Alla Ramakrishna Reddy resigns from party, Assembly

The MLA, who accompanied YS Jagan Mohan Reddy in his padayatra across Andhra, opted to resign to draw attention to his demands.

ByBhaskar Basava

Published Dec 11, 2023 | 3:24 PM ⚊ Updated Dec 11, 2023 | 3:24 PM

YSRCP MLA Alla Ramakrishna Reddy with AP CM YS Jagan. (Supplied)

Mangalagiri MLA Alla Ramakrishna Reddy resigned from the YSRCP and the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly on Monday, 11 December.

Ramakrishna Reddy has been miffed over the party considering another candidate to replace him in Mangalagiri, which has a significant population of weavers.

The MLA is the second party leader from the Guntur district to quit the party. Earlier, Tadikonda MLA Undavalli Sridevi was suspended from the party for reportedly voting in favour of the TDP candidate Panchumarthi Anuradha in the MLC Assembly quota polls.

The resignation has been seen as a ploy to win the party’s attention to his demands.

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Disappointment galore

Two-time MLA Ramakrishna Reddy accompanied Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy during the entire duration of the Praja Sankalpa Yatra across the state. His elder brother, Alla Ayodhya Rami Reddy, a businessman-turned-politician, is a Rajya Sabha member of the YSRCP.

Ramakrishna Reddy expected a Cabinet berth after defeating TDP scion Nara Lokesh at Mangalagiri in the Amaravati Capital Region.

He even put up boards and banners that even mentioned him as a minister after the polls. However, to his surprise, his name was not included on the list of ministers. This has been cited as the beginning of Ramakrishna Reddy’s differences with the party leadership.

Again, he was not considered during the Cabinet reshuffle in 2022. However, Ambati Rambabu, Vidadala Rajini, and Merugu Nagarjuna from the erstwhile district were accommodated in the Cabinet, which made Ramakrishna Reddy feel that he was being sidelined.

Since then, the MLA has been skipping party meetings, including those chaired by Jagan, and other related events.

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The BC ticket row

The Mangalagiri constituency is known for it handloom sector. It has around 60,000 voters from the weavers’ community.

To retain their votes and project YSRCP as a pro-backward classes party, the organisation started looking for a BC candidate to field in the constituency, party sources told South First.

It was also said that the party was planning to field Ganji Chiranjeevi, a former TDP leader who had lost to Ramakrishna Reddy by 12 votes in 2014. The move annoyed the MLA.

“There are many aspirants from the BC community, giving a strong feeling to the MLA that he might not be considered. Several appointments, such as that of the town president and other nominated posts, were reportedly done without his knowledge,” YSRCP sources said.

“After all, after the party rejected his demands, the disappointed MLA decided to resign. However, it is up to the party to accept it or not,” sources added.

The party would be looking forward to a reconciliation. Speaking to the South First, Dokka Manikya Vara Prasad, a former MLC and YSRCP Guntur district president, said, “These are small differences, and his brother is a member of the YSRCP and a Rajya Sabha MP. In all likelihood, the party and he will arrive at an understanding by today or tomorrow.”