Stick to rules or else get the stick

Hyderabad: The BRS Chief K Chandrashekar Rao has given a strong warning to the party leaders who are involved in indiscipline in several constituencies by suspending the senior leaders like former Minister Jupally Krishna Rao and former MP Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy.

The Chief Minister has sent a message that no matter how big the leader they may be, they would have to follow the party's decision or they will be shunted out. Both Jupally Krishna Rao and Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy have been organising meetings against the party line. A day before, these two leaders organised AtmeeyaSammelan in Khammam and spoke against the party. The meeting was organised by Srinivas Reddy in which Krishna Rao was present and they made allegations of corruption against the chief minister.

The party leaders feel that the action against the duo was inevitable going by their track records. While Jupally was involved in a battle of supremacy over his rival in Kollapur Assembly constituency B Harshavardhan Reddy, Srinivas Reddy was unhappy over not given any prominence in the party. Jupally and Harshavardhan Reddy have been in confrontation since the 2018 Assembly elections. BRS working KT Rama Rao intervened and tried to pacify him twice but Jupally did not relent, said a BRS leader. Both these leaders had also got in touch with two national parties including BJP and Congress, which also added to the reasons for suspension.

Party leaders said that this is not the only constituency where there is a confrontation. In Rangareddy district, there is a tussle between Minister P Sabita Indra Reddy and former MLA Teegala Krishna Reddy. Similarly, in Tandur the MLA Pilot Rohit Reddy and MLC Patnam Mahender Reddy have big rivalry in open. In Nalgonda district Nakrekal constituency there is rift between MLA Chirumurthy Lingaiah and former MLA Veeresham, in Nagarjunsagar two leaders including N Bhagat and MC Koti Reddy. In Mahabubnagar district in Kalwakurthy constituency there are differences between MLC Kasireddy Narayan Reddy and MLA Jaipal Yadav. In Warangal two leaders including MLA Shankar Naik and MP Maloth Kavitha are fighting the battle of supremacy. In Bhoopalapally, Madhusudhana Chary wants to contest while GandraVenkataramana Reddy is the sitting MLA.

The party leaders said that suspension of the two leaders would send a message to the dissidents in the party. Defending the decision of the party, the Agriculture Minister S Niranjan Reddy said that the party will not tolerate indiscipline and would act tough against those crossing the line. The party will not bow down to their blackmailing politics, he said.