IN YET another jolt to the ruling YSRCP in Andhra Pradesh, Ongole MP Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy Wednesday quit the party, citing “self-respect” issues. Sreenivasulu, whose son has turned 'approver' in the Delhi excise scam case, becomes the fifth YSRCP MP to exit the party over the past few weeks, after Vallabhaneni Balashowry (Machilipatnam MP), K Raghu Ramakrishna Raju (Narasapuram), Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu (Narasaraopeta), Sanjeev Kumar (Kurnool) and V Prabhakar Reddy (Rajya Sabha MP). While Balashowry has joined the JanaSena Party (JSP), the others have already joined or will soon join JSP ally Telugu Desam party (TDP). “We do not have ego, we have a lot of self-respect. It is important to protect our self-respect all the time. Due to some unavoidable circumstances, we have to leave the YSRCP. It is a sad development,” Sreenivasulu said, announcing his decision. Sources said Sreenivasulu, who was pushing for a ticket for his son M Raghava Reddy for the Ongole Lok Sabha seat, was miffed after YSRCP chief and Andhra Pradesh CM Jagan Mohan Reddy appointed Chandragiri MLA Chevireddy Bhaskar Reddy as the parliamentary in-charge for the seat, virtually ending his chances. Jagan has been appointing in-charges for Assembly and parliamentary seats, who are touted to be candidates for the upcoming simultaneous state and general elections. With an aim to beat anti-incumbency, the party is going in for new names in place of sitting MPs and MLAs, which is behind many of the recent desertions from the party. Leaders close to the MP said Sreenivasulu is likely to join the TDP, which has assured his son of a ticket. The TDP-JSP is, incidentally, hopeful of forming an alliance with the resurgent BJP for the Lok Sabha elections. TDP national spokesperson G Deepak Reddy confirmed that the Ongole MP is in talks with the party. “The talks about giving his son a ticket from Ongole are ongoing. The nitty gritties are being finalised and an official announcement will be made in a day or two when the party chief (Chandrababu Naidu) visits Nellore,” he said. The Ongole MP has many business interests, including movie theatres, real estate and distilleries. Party insiders said relations between Jagan and the Ongole MP soured after his son’s name featured in the alleged Delhi excise scam as part of the “southern group”. Sreenivasulu was also interrogated by the CBI, which has accused the so-called “southern group” of paying kickbacks to the tune of Rs 100 crore to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders in return for “uninhibited access and undue favours”. Raghava is believed to have given critical information to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) since he turned approver in the case, which has seen the arrest of several AAP leaders, including former Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, and several summons to Telangana MLC and senior BRS leader K Kavitha. The Ongole MP's resignation came a day after he skipped a meeting called by Jagan, where he had assured every party worker of full support during the elections. An estimated 2,700 party leaders attended the meeting. Earlier last month, Sreenivasulu had also given an Ongole event where Jagan distributed land pattas to beneficiaries a miss. A four-time MP from Ongole, Sreenivasulu won the seat thrice on a Congress ticket, before moving to the YSRCP and fighting on its ticket in 2019. He left the Congress over the introduction of the Bill in 2014 by the UPA government at the Centre, that led to the bifurcation of the united Andhra state. Sreenivasulu first joined the TDP, but lost the 2014 Lok Sabha polls to senior YSRCP leader and Jagan’s uncle Y V Subba Reddy. He was then elected as a member of the Legislative Council. A section of YSRCP leaders in Ongole say the MP chose to quit the party now as its internal surveys show heavy anti-incumbency against him. “He knew he was going to lose and hence was replaced. That is why he quit. His exit will not impact our chances at all,” a YSRCP district office-bearer of Prakasam district said. However, another section points out that he used to be Jagan’s close aide. “In 2019, Jagan chose to give him the ticket from Ongole over his uncle. This shows how close he was to Sreenivasulu. His exit will definitely have an impact, but we are sure that we will retain the seat,” a party leader from Ongole said. More desertions on the cards Party leaders say more such exits will be on the cards as Jagan has been tweaking candidates to beat anti-incumbency. A close aide of a state minister said the Andhra Pradesh CM is taking a lesson from neighbouring Telangana, where the BRS lost power to the Congress in recent Assembly elections. “We saw what happened in Telangana, where K Chandrashekar Rao fielded almost all sitting MLAs despite having an almost 10-year anti-incumbency. We do not want to repeat this and take any chances. There will be more exits and we are prepared for it,” he said. However, the cadre seems less enthused about the changes. “The changes are creating groups between the cadre. With elections just round the corner, we cannot afford to have factions. We are working hard to win the elections and internal unity is very important to defeat the TDP-JSP combine,” a leader pointed out.
