Jana Sena MLA Arava Sridhar quits as govt whip after meeting Pawan Kalyan

Vijayawada: Railway Koduru MLA Arava Sridhar on Saturday resigned from the post of govt whip after meeting deputy chief minister and Jana Sena president Pawan Kalyan at his camp office in Vijayawada.

Sridhar, a Jana Sena legislator, is facing allegations from a woman govt employee, who has accused him of cheating her after allegedly being in a relationship with her and promising marriage. The issue was an embarrassment for the ruling coalition after several videos related to the issue surfaced online and went viral on social media.

The controversy intensified further after a video allegedly showing Sridhar making critical remarks against chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu surfaced on the internet. The Jana Sena leadership earlier directed Sridhar to stay away from party programmes until the issue was resolved.

Following Saturday’s meeting with Pawan Kalyan, during which Sridhar is said to have explained his side of the story to the Jana Sena leadership, the MLA announced that he was stepping down from the govt whip post due to “personal reasons”. However, sources indicated that the Jana Sena leadership viewed the allegations and the resulting controversy seriously and wanted to send a clear message that issues affecting the party’s image would not be tolerated.

Pawan Kalyan also held discussions with Polavaram MLA Chirri Balaraju, who is facing corruption allegations and is embroiled in certain family disputes. Sources said the deputy CM questioned Balaraju over the sanctioning of nearly Rs 147 crore worth of panchayat funds in Polavaram constituency and stressed the need for complete transparency in development works.

Balaraju reportedly assured the party leadership that there would be no corruption in his functioning and promised to resolve his family-related disputes within four weeks. He also assured the leadership that he would coordinate with officials and coalition partners to avoid further controversies.

According to party insiders, Pawan Kalyan is now planning to conduct regular review meetings with party MLAs and senior leaders every week to strengthen discipline within the party and prevent controversies from affecting the coalition govt’s image.