Balineni support must for any YSRCP nominee to win

Ongole: The stalemate over the selection of right candidate for the Ongole Assembly and parliament constituency for the YSRCP continued as the high command denied the Ongole Assembly ticket to the incumbent Balineni Srinivasa Reddy. Those whose names are under consideration feel that without support of Srinivasa Reddy it may be difficult for them to win.

Srinviasa Reddy is scheduled to meet party chief Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Monday, January 8, to discuss the issue before taking a final decision on his future.

He said that as of now he was the YSRCP candidate for the Ongole Assembly and would convince the high command about the candidature of Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy for the Ongole MP seat.

Ongole has been the home turf for Srinivasa Reddy for over 25 years. He won the Ongole Assembly seat continuously four times, between 1999 and 2014, and was elected again in 2019. He served as a minister in the Cabinet multiple times and tried to develop the Ongole and Kothapatnam mandals, which are part of the constituency. After the elections of 2014, misunderstandings developed between him and his brother-in-law Y V Subbareddy.

Srinivasa Reddy kept complaining that some people in the party were trying to defame him and his son and making false allegations. On one occasion, he confessed that he accepted financial support from outsiders for doing their work as the minister, just to maintain the party cadre. The outspoken and bold behaviour of the Ongole MLA irritated the party leadership several times.

Srinivasa Reddy has considerable influence on the YSRCP workers in Ongole, Santhanuthalapadu, Kondapi, Markapuram, Darsi, Kanigiri and other Assembly constituencies in the district. After the Chief Minister removed him from the Cabinet, his supporters tried to vandalise the district party office. When he arrived at Ongole, they organised a massive rally, as a show of strength. There are instances of supporters and followers of Srinivasa Reddy erecting flex boards greeting and wishing him with no sign of party flag or colours, indicating their individuality from other leaders.

Considering the earlier incidents and feedback from various sources, YSR Congress Party denied the ticket to Srinivasa Reddy for the 2024 elections. Later, the party asked him to contest from Giddalur, but he rejected the proposal.

Meanwhile, the party has asked Sidda Raghavarao’s family to contest as MLA from Ongole. After consultations with well-wishers, Raghavarao and his son Sudheer met Balineni Srinivasa Reddy in Hyderabad. After the meeting, the sources say, Raghavarao or Sudheer have decided not to contest from Ongole, but they are interested in trying their luck at Darsi.

As Srinivasa Reddy has a good influence in more than half of the Assembly constituencies in the Ongole parliament constituency, the MP candidate should also have his support. The sitting MP Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy is also having a tough time in the party as he is said to have been denied the MP ticket for various reasons. His next move needs to be watched.

However, he met Balneni Srinivasa Reddy in Hyderabad and they both decided that they should both contest only from Ongole and can easily win the MLA and MP seats. The Ongole mayor Gangada Sujatha, deputy mayors and corporators in the Ongole Municipal Council also met Srinviasa Reddy and announced that they are with him and would follow him to whichever party he would join. Speculations are rife he is in touch with the TDP and Jana Sena Party.