Nellore: YSRCP leaders desert party in droves

Nellore : The ruling YSRCP which had enjoyed great pride by winning 10 out of 10 Assembly seats and MP seat in 2019 elections is now seems to be facing uphill task as senior leaders are quitting the party.

Interestingly, during 2019 elections the aspirants had made a beeline for securing YSRCP tickets but now they are migrating to other parties as they fear that they may not win in the face of anti-incumbency.

It may be recalled that Nellore city MLA Poluboyina Anil Kumar Yadav who was elected twice in 2014 and 2019 elections has been shifted to Narsaraopet constituency based on survey reports and internal differences he has with local leadership.

YSRCP officially declared the candidature of Meriga Murali for Guduru (SC reserved) and Mohammad Khaleel Ahmed for Nellore city Assembly seats.

The party is yet to announce the name for Nellore MP seat. The delay, it is said, is due to the the sitting MLAs and in-charges claiming themselves as candidates pending official announcement.

After coming to power in 2019 elections, YSRCP made a sweep of Nellore zilla parishad, Nellore Municipal Corporation, Kavali, Atmakuru, Kandukuru municipalities and majority of panchayats in the district.

But now ahead of 2024 elections, second-rung leaders who had to strive hard for strengthening the party at grass-root level are migrating to TDP at several places in Nellore city and rural Assembly constituencies.

The trouble began for YSRCP with quitting of party senior MLAs Anam Ramanarayana Reddy (Venkatagiti), Mekapati Chandrasekhar Reddy (Udayagiri), Kotamreddy Sridhar Reddy (Nellore Rural), Vegalapalli Varaprasad Rao (Guduru) and Rajya Sabha member Vemireddy Prabhakara Reddy.

The latest to join the migration is Nellore city deputy mayor Poluboyina Roopkumar Yadav (paternal uncle of YSRCP Nellore city MLA Anil Kumar Yadav). He had played a key role in the victory Anil. He joined TDP on Wednesday.

Roopkumar Yadav announcing his resignation on Wednesday, said he had worked hard for strengthening YSRCP in the city for the last 13 years. “Though it is very painful for me to leave the party, it has become inevitable as I am not able to digest the developments that have taken place in the last 1.5 years,” he said. He is likely joined TDP in the presence of TDP national president N Chandrababu Naidu during his visit on March 2.

Besides playing a key role in victory of his nephew Anil Kumar Yadav, Roopkumar was also instrumental in bringing YSRCP in to power in Nellore Municipal Corporation by securing all 50 divisions in the city.

A party senior leader on the condition of anonymity said that it will be hard even secure one or two Assembly seats in the district in the ensuing elections, if situation continues like this.