‘Disillusioned’ over seat allocation, another MP quits YSRCP; 3rd parliamentarian to leave party this month

Devarayalu, a first-time MP, said he was “disillusioned and confused” after he was told that he was being shifted to Guntur Lok Sabha constituency as the party had decided to field a Backward Classes (BC) candidate from the Narasaraopet seat.

Before him, Kurnool MP Sanjeev Kumar and Machilipatnam MP Vallabhaneni Balashowry has quit the party citing the same reason.

“All the seven YSRCP MLAs under Narasaraopet Lok Sabha seat are backing me that I should be renominated from here but the party has different ideas. I was not consulted before the party decided not to renominate me from Narasaraopet, and I cannot continue anymore,” Devarayalu said, adding that he has no interest in contesting from the Guntur Lok Sabha seat.

Mangalagiri MLA A Ramakrishna Reddy also quit the party after he was denied a ticket and a BC candidate was appointed as the constituency in-charge. Devarayalu said there was “utter chaos and confusion in the party file and rank” as over 60 MLAs and 10 MPs were being dropped.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy has appointed new constituency coordinators and in-charges in at least 65 Assembly and 15 Lok Sabha constituencies. These coordinators and in-charges would be the new YSRCP candidates, replacing the incumbent ones in those seats. The changes are being made based on the “winning ability of the sitting MLAs and MPs”, said senior YSRCP leader and Education Minister Botsa Satyanaryana.

Andhra Pradesh is set for synchronised elections to the 175-member Assembly and 25 Lok Sabha seats in about three months. Among the others who are likely to be dropped are Visakhapatnam MP MVV Satyanarayana, Tirupati MP M Gurumurth and Kakinada MP V Geetha, said sources, adding that the CM is changing the candidates based on anti-incumbency and winnability survey reports. The YSRCP is also wary of the TDP-JSP alliance, and the Congress party’s attempts to revive its fortunes with the appointment of Y S Sharmila as the APCC president.