VIJAYAWADA/VISAKHAPATNAM: Mangalagiri legislator Alla Ramakrishna Reddy has resigned from the YSRCP and the assembly. He submitted his resignation to the assembly speaker on Monday. A two-time legislator from Mangalagiri constituency in Guntur district, he had defeated TDP national general secretary Nara Lokesh in the 2019 elections.
In another development, YSRCP's Gajuwaka assembly constituency in-charge Tippala Devan Reddy, the younger son of Gajuwaka MLA Tippala Nagireddy, has also resigned from his post.
Alla was reportedly not happy with the party's plans to field a BC candidate from Mangalagiri by replacing him in the coming elections. A strong group in the ruling party has also been opposing him for long.
Alla, who is known as a staunch loyalist of chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, is said to have taken the decision to quit the assembly without consulting the party leadership. His elder brother, Rajya Sabha member Alla Dasaratharami Reddy, is a regional coordinator of YSRCP in the state.
There are also talks that Alla was hurt by the demands of the other group, led by Donthireddy Vemareddy, to replace him in the constituency. Though he brought the activities of the other group to the notice of the party leadership, no steps were taken to quell the unrest.
However, the recent decision of the party to name APCO chairman and weavers' leader Ganji Chiranjeevi as the constituency in-charge may have left him with no room to negotiate with the party leadership.
Alla went to the assembly on Monday and submitted his resignation letter to speaker Thammineni Seetharam's OSD, as Seetharam was not available.
Alla thanks CM, public for support, to explain resignation reasons laterHowever, his resignation needs to be approved by the speaker.
"I have made two painful decisions today. I have submitted my resignation from the assembly, and I have also resigned from the party (YSRCP)," he told reporters, adding that he would explain the reasons behind his decision later.
He also thanked the chief minister and the public for their support.
Alla was with the Congress for over a decade but moved to YSRCP when Jagan floated the party. He won two back-to-back elections - in 2014 and 2019 - from Mangalagiri as YSRCP nominee. He played a key role in the legal battle against the then TDP government's land pooling scheme (LPS) in Amaravati.
He is also a complainant in several cases filed against TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu, Lokesh, and then municipal minister Ponguru Narayana.
Devan, the younger son of Nagireddy, was the in-charge of Gajuwaka assembly segment for the last few years. His father had defeated Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan in the 2019 elections by a margin of 16,753 votes. Sources said Devan resigned after he came to know that the party has decided to give the ticket to Yadava community, which is a dominating community along with Kapus in Gajuwaka, for the upcoming elections.
While confirming his son's resignation, Nagireddy said Devan didn't even consult him. "I don't know why he took a hurried decision without consulting me. For YSRCP to win the next elections, the chief minister has to field strong candidates. He promised us an MLC seat. I think my son's decision to resign is not correct. He should have waited for the party high command to announce the candidate," he said.
Devan was not available for comments.
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