YSRC's Rayalaseema leaders fail to see eye-to-eye

ANANTAPUR: Differences among YSRC ministers, legislators and secondary leaders from the Rayalaseema region are flaring up, with regional coordinator Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy trying to put out the flames quickly, before the general polls.

Rayalaseema is considered a key region for the party, among all regions of the state, party sources said.

Issues started cropping up at party meetings, with disagreements and arguments snowballing into a ruckus, all in the presence of Ramachandra Reddy. With internal fights getting more acute by the day, even MPs and other MLAs are unable to gain access to those in Rayalaseema, sources said.

They said that minister Ushashri Charan has differences with Anantapur MP T. Rangaiah, with both having dedicated groups of followers in the Kalyandurg Assembly segment. Meetings held in the segment have witnessed flare-ups between the two groups.

The YSRC faces a similar problem in the Hindupur Assembly segment too, where the party incharge and MLC Md Iqbal was facing dissidence from a rival group, led by APIDC chairman Naveen Nischal.

With rumours of Iqbal’s PA’s alleged involvement in the murder of YSRC leader Chowlur Ramakrishna Reddy doing the rounds, half of the councillors in Hindupur were opposing the incharge and the municipal chairperson.

Things also came to a head in the Madakasira Assembly segment, where a dissident group led by former MLAs H.B. Narase Gowd and Y.T. Prabhakar Reddy resisted MLA Dr Thippeswamy during a party meeting a few weeks ago.

Sources, however, said the worst issues are in the Penukonda Assembly segment, where former minister M. Shankara Narayana was being sidelined by a majority of the leaders in the segment.

The party suspended a leader from Somandepalli mandal, who is currently in jail, over displaying dissent towards the former minister at a Gadapa Gadapaku event a few days ago.