Srikakulam: YSRCP leaders' rivalry stumps district officials

Srikakulam: A cold war is going on among three leaders of ruling party in the district over posting of district level officials. The three leaders, Deputy Chief Minsiter Dharmana Krishna Das, Assembly Speaker Tammineni Sitaram and minister Seediri Applaraju, are trying to establish their control over district administration by getting their favourite officials posted.

The recent episode of zilla parishad chief executive officer (CEO) posting laid bare the battle between Krishna Das and Sitaram. A senior officer in panchayat raj and rural development department, B Laxmipathi, was appointed as CEO of ZP recently with the recommendation of Speaker Sitaram. Orders were also issued to this effect.

However, on learning about this, Deputy CM Krishna Das swung into action and got the commissioner for panchayat raj and rural development department cancel them immediately. He wanted Reddy Visweswara Rao, who is working as project director (PD) for District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) in Visakhapatnam, as ZP CEO. While Laxmipathi belongs to Kalinga community, same as Speaker Sitaram, while Reddy Visweswara Rao belongs to Polinati Velama community to which Krishna Das too belongs. Currently, the status quo is continuing. This polarised the leaders activists of the YSRCP into two groups.

The transfer of District Water Management Agency (DWMA) project director K Kurma Rao has also become a bone of contention between the two leaders. According to sources, while minister Krishna Das is trying to replace him with B Sanyasi Naidu, the Speaker is said to be resisting this.

Meanwhile, animal husbandry minister S Appalaraju, who was elected to Assembly from Palasa constituency registered a complaint with officials at Chief Minister's Office recently about the excessive involvement of Deputy Chief Minister and his personal staff in Palasa constituency affairs.

The district is not new to political slugfest among the ruling party leaders. During the previous TDP rule too, K Atchannaidu, K Kala Venkata Rao and Kuna Ravi Kumar were involved in a game of one upmanship.

. Atchannaidu and Kala Venkata Rao served as ministers and Ravi Kumar was government whip. These three leaders had vied with another to establish their dominance over district administration. The same scenario is continuing with a mere change in the leaders. However, this game of ruling party leaders is causing enormous confusion among official machinery in the district.