Why Kesineni Nani joined YSRCP ahead of Andhra Pradesh elections?

He later submitted his resignation to both the TDP and the Lok Sabha.

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‘Humiliating’ factors

Earlier, when Nani announced his decision to resign from the party, his daughter Kesineni Swetha resigned as corporator of the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) on 8 January. She expressed her displeasure over the TDP “humiliating” and “disrespecting” her father.

Swetha also referred to the appointment of her uncle Kesineni Chinni as the in-charge, despite her father being the sitting MP of the parliamentary constituency.

Earlier, on 3 January, during a Joint Action Committee meeting with alliance partner Jana Sena to discuss TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu’s public meeting in Tiruvuru constituency,  Nani and Chinni were involved in a public spat.

Chinni, along with his followers, went to the party office to attend the meeting. Some followers of Nani stopped him and questioned the absence of Nani’s picture on the banners. This resulted in a fight between the followers of the siblings, and cases were filed against 34 TDP members.

A day later, Nani took to Facebook and revealed that the party leaders, including former minister Alapati Raja and NTR district president and former minister Nettem Raghu Ram, conveyed to him that TDP chief Naidu had appointed someone — referring to Chinni — as the in-charge and that he was asked not to involve himself in party affairs.

Considering this a humiliation, Nani announced that he would soon quit the party after submitting his resignation to the Lok Sabha Speaker.

The party tried to pacify him, but he insisted that he would stay only if he was renominated from the Vijayawada Lok Sabha segment. But with the party favouring his brother over him, the talks failed.

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Rift with TDP

A rift between Nani and the party’s leadership initially developed after he was denied any key position in the party despite winning for the second time.

After 2019 elections, though he sought the post of TDP Parliamentary Party leader or floor leader, he was overlooked in favour of Guntur MP Galla Jayadev and Srikakulam MP Rammohan Naidu.

Later, Nani was offered the party whip’s post in the Lok Sabha. However, humiliated by the delayed announcement, he rejected the offer. Later, he started throwing barbs at Chandrababu Naidu.

Nani had also sparked rumours of joining the BJP after he visited Nagpur to meet Union Minister Nitin Gadkari. However, his plans did not materialise.

Since then, he has been a staunch critic of Naidu, and his absence from TDP scion Nara Lokesh’s prestigious padayatra, Yuva Galam (Voice of Youth), raised doubts about his commitment to the party.

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Rift with brother

Meanwhile, Nani’s brother, Kesineni Sivanath, aka Chinni, a realtor from Hyderabad, developed a rapport with the TDP leadership and began actively involving himself in the party’s activities. He was soon being seen as an alternative to Nani.

Chinni also enjoys the support of a section of TDP leaders in Vijayawada who are not happy with his brother’s style of functioning.

Reportedly, both brothers have a rift over assets, and Nani had even filed a case against Chinni in Hyderabad for misusing his MP car sticker.

However, after Naidu’s arrest, there has been a change in Nani’s approach to the party.

He started being more involved in party affairs and spent time with Lokesh in Delhi while Naidu’s case was being heard in the Supreme Court.

But, the party apparently was unimpressed with the Nani’s efforts to rekindle relations.