Loksatta party splits, JP names new heads for Andhra Pradesh, Telangana

HYDERABAD: The Loksatta political party, founded by former bureaucrat Jayaprakash Narayan has split. Two days after the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana unit presidents of the party revolted against the central leadership, Loksatta founder president Narayan and national president Surender Srivastava on Saturday announced new office bearers for AP and Telangana.
Pattabhiramaiah was named as the interim AP state president and Bheesetti Babji as the interim AP state general secretary.Bandaru Rammohan was named Telangana unit interim president and M Srinivas Reddy interim general secretary.
According to sources, Loksatta AP president D V S Verma and Telangana unit chief Katari Srinivasa Rao revolted against the leadership of Jayaprakash Narayan and Srivastava, and described themselves as the real Loksatta party. "The two state presidents perceived the central leadership as moving too closely with a particular political party from Andhra Pradesh," they said.
JP and Srivastava struck back at the dissidents on Saturday. While announcing the interim office bearers for AP and Telangana, Jayaprakash Narayan said: "We are pained with the behaviour of senior party members who have gone public with internal matters and forced this action. No one is indispensable. The party is bigger than the individuals and the nation is bigger than the party. Loksatta will march ahead with momentum as the platform for the young people of India. National president Surendra Srivastava and his national team will take the party forward. This matter is closed."
Srivastava said: "After extensive consultations with all key stakeholders and leaders, and with Jayaprakash Narayan's considered opinion, we have arrived at the new leadership team."
In the meantime, the dissident group headed by D V S Verma and Katari Srinivasa Rao too is planning to step up their activity after staking claim to the ownership of the Loksatta party. They are likely to come up with their plan of action in the next couple of days, said the sources.