Days after the YSR Congress Party opened its new State office at Tadepalli, part of Mangalagiri constituency, local MLA Alla Ramakrishna Reddy found himself in a corner after his rival Udutha Srinivasa Rao was welcomed into the party by its president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.
Mr. Reddy was among the five MLAs in the district and had won by a narrow margin of seven votes in the Assembly segment, a part of the capital region. Considered a close confidante of YSR’s family, Mr. Reddy had waged many a legal battle against the State government over the Land Pooling Scheme and even filed cases in the National Green Tribunal against the construction activity in the flood plain area abutting River Krishna.
On Friday, Mr. Srinivasa Rao along with his followers joined the party at Hyderabad. Mr. Reddy was conspicuous by his absence.
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Party circles said that the decision to admit Mr. Srinivasa Rao has been taken as it has been decided to field a BC candidate from the Mangalagiri segment. Mr. Rao belongs to the Padmasali community, which has a significant presence in the segment.
Mr. Reddy, however, is apparently piqued by the decision to induct Srinivasa Rao rather than a person of his choice. Mr. Rao has the support of party leaders like D. Vema Reddy, who had earlier vied for the Mangalagiri segment.
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The party faces similar predicament in some other Assembly segments too. Marri Rajasekhar, district unit president from Chilakaluripet, was not too happy after the party named V. Rajani as the constituency in charge. A doctor, U. Sridevi, was brought in place of Christina in Tadikonda segment, after the latter had lost the elections in 2014. Ambati Rambabu too faced dissidence in Sattenapalli segment, while in Guntur West, Lella Appireddy was replaced by former DIG Ch. Yesuratnam.