Tirupati: Once an unassailable political force within the undivided Nellore district, YSRC is now beset with internal dissent. This makes it doubtful whether in 2024, it will be able to win all the 10 assembly seats that it did in 2019.
Divisions within the ruling party have emerged in multiple assembly segments. Disgruntled members are openly expressing their differences, like they did during a recent review meeting held by MP and YSRC's regional coordinator V. Vijaya Sai Reddy.
Ruling party ticket aspirants confronted each other, including in Kavali and Udayagiri. Vijaya Sai Reddy intervened to defuse the tension, underlining that Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy will have the final say in candidate selection.
Efforts are being made to find a replacement for YSRC rebel MLA Mekapati Chandrasekara Reddy in Udayagiri. There is opposition against nominating another member of Mekapati family, Mekapati Rajagopal Reddy, from the constituency.
In Kavali, sitting YSRC MLA R. Pratap Kumar Reddy and his supporters abruptly left a meeting. They returned later with grievances against followers of Pratap Kumar’s former friend-turned-foe M. Sukumar Reddy. Efforts to reconcile differences only escalated tensions within the MLA's supporters.
In Atmakur, the situation is different. Sitting MLA Mekapati Vikram Reddy is expected to face a stiff competition from Telugu Desam, which is considered to put up from the constituency Anam Ramanarayana Reddy, a recent defector from YSRC. In Nellore city segment, there are ongoing differences between former minister P. Anil Kumar Yadav and corporator P. Roop Kumar Yadav, who is also Anil's uncle. The two Yadav leaders have been engaged in a public war of words, causing significant embarrassment to the ruling party and local activists.
A notable development that has boosted opposition Telugu Desam's hopes in Nellore region is defection of ruling party dissident leaders like Anam Ramanarayana Reddy, Kotamreddy Sridhar Reddy, and Mekapati Chandrasekhar, who have joined the TD ranks.
Ramanarayana Reddy wields considerable influence in the district. His defection is a significant blow to the YSRC. Kotamreddy Sridhar Reddy is expected to pose a challenge to YSRC MP Adala Prabhakar Reddy, who has been appointed as ruling party in-charge of the Nellore Rural Assembly segment.
