Meet the YSRCP MLA, now ‘missing’, caught ‘destroying’ EVM on camera

Belonging to Kandlakunta village of erstwhile Guntur district (now Palnadu), Ramakrishna started his political journey with the Congress, and was a Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituency member who was first elected as MLA in 2009 on the Congress ticket.

Seen as a loyalist of the late Andhra chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy (YSR), Ramakrishna quit the Congress when Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy floated the YSRCP in 2012 following his father’s death in 2009.

In the subsequent bypoll in 2012, Ramakrishna defeated his TDP rival by over 15,000 votes and went on to retain the seat in the 2014 by a margin of over 3,000 votes. In the 2019 Assembly elections, he increased his margin to over 20,000 votes. He was later appointed the government whip in the Assembly.

Belonging to the powerful Reddy group, Ramakrishna and his brother Pinnelli Venkatrami Reddy are seen to be influential in the constituency, which otherwise is numerically dominated by the Yadav (OBC) community.

“The brothers command immense respect and people are scared to even talk against them. Given the history of political violence associated with the constituency, be it the YSRCP or TDP, their influence has grown manifold over the years,” a local YSRCP leader, who did not wish to be named, said.

VIDEO | YSRCP MLA P Ramakrishna Reddy was caught on camera allegedly damaging an EVM in the Macherla assembly constituency during the May 13 polls.

The Election Commission on Tuesday directed the Andhra Pradesh police chief to take strict criminal action against MLA.… pic.twitter.com/vdVHJvc7Ie

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) May 22, 2024

In May 2019, after the YSRCP stormed to power, winning 152 of the 175 Assembly seats, around 60 families, seen to be associated with the TDP, were said to have fled Macherla in fear. Leaders say that the TDP, anticipating such a situation, had kept camps ready in neighbouring Guntur district to ensure accommodation for its fleeing leaders.

In the run-up to the 2024 polls too, the situation continued to be tense, especially after the TDP announced Julakanti Brahmananda Reddy, the son of former MLA Julakanti Durgamba, as its candidate. A close aide of the MLA, who held an important position in his campaign team, said Ramakrishna, along with minister Dharamana Prasad Rao, was the YSRCP’s best campaigner. “It was his (Ramakrishna’s) idea to tail the TDP’s candidate with six SUVs on the last day of campaign. Whenever he tried to speak, all the SUVs honked so loudly that his (Brahmananda) voice was lost in the noise,” he said.

The video of Ramakrishna destroying the EVM, which got “leaked” about a week after pockets of the state saw unprecedented post-poll violence, triggered a political slugfest with the TDP accusing the ruling YSRCP of high-handedness.

“This is an example of the high-handed behaviour of YSRCP MLAs over the past five years. This is the reason why people want to throw them out of power,” TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh told The Indian Express.

The EC has directed the Andhra Pradesh Police to take “strict criminal action” against Ramakrishna. “In Macherla Assembly constituency, EVMs were damaged in seven polling stations including polling station number 202 where this incident of damage of EVM by the sitting MLA P Ramakrishna Reddy was recorded in the web camera,” said a statement from Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Mukesh Kumar Meena’s office late on Tuesday.

Sources said that the MLA has crossed over into Telangana since to escape police action.

The YSRCP, in turn, has accused the EC of acting in a biased manner by releasing the video of only one incident. YSRCP general secretary Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy on Thursday questioned why the EC was not releasing videos of all seven incidents of EVM damage in Macherla. “We urge the EC to take all instances of electoral indiscipline into consideration in a fair and nonpartisan manner and initiate appropriate action so that the role of the commission as an impartial umpire is upheld,” he said.