Amaravati: Senior leader of YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) and former minister Balineni Srinivasa Reddy has decided to quit as the regional coordinator of the party.
Srinivasa Reddy, who was serving as the YSRCP coordinator for Chittoor, Nellore and Tirupati, sent his resignation to the party office.
He was reportedly unhappy ever since he was dropped from the cabinet last year. The senior leader also suspected that some leaders within the party were working against him.
Balineni Srinivasa Reddy is a key leader from Prakasam district and is a relative of Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.
He was unhappy after Jagan Mohan Reddy dropped him from the cabinet last year and was reported to be even planning to quit as MLA.
Srinivasa Reddy, who had served as a minister in the cabinet of Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy in the undivided Andhra Pradesh, was angry over Jagan Reddy dropping him while retaining many others who are junior to him. He was miffed over Jagan retaining Adimulapu Suresh, who also hails from the same district, in the cabinet.
The chief minister, however, had pacified him and appointed him the regional coordinator of the party.
However, Srinivasa Reddy was unhappy over not getting due respect in the party. He was also not sure of getting a party ticket in the 2024 elections. He had expressed the fear that a woman might be given the MLA ticket from Ongole in the next elections.
On April 12, Srinivasa Reddy had taken strong objection to security personnel not allowing him to reach the helipad in his vehicle in Markapuram of Prakasam district when Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy was visiting the area.
Srinivasa Reddy left the place in a huff but attended the chief minister’s programme only after the latter spoke to him over phone.
When ministers and other leaders were heading towards the helipad to receive the chief minister, the security personnel stopped Srinivasa Reddy’s car and asked him to get down and walk to the helipad. Taken aback by this, the senior leader pulled up police officials. Angry over the behaviour of police, he returned from there in his vehicle even as Suresh, district SP and other leaders tried to pacify him.
Meanwhile, minister Kakani Goverdhan Reddy described Srinivasa Reddy’s issue as a storm in teacup. He claimed that the former minister is getting due respect in the party.
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