Kakinada: Nearly 20 Telugu Desam leaders and their followers have submitted resignation to the party membership, anticipating the Anaparthi Assembly segment would be allocated to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as part of the TD-JS-BJP alliance.
They handed over their resignation letters to the Telugu Desam Zonal Incharge and former minister Sujaya Krishna Ranga Rao on Monday. They criticised the TD high command for allocating the seat to the BJP without taking the consent of the local party leaders.
They said former MLA late Nallamilli Moola Reddy worked hard for strengthening the party since its incorporation by late N.T. Rama Rao. His son Nallamilli Ramakrishna Reddy won as the MLA from the constituency in 2014 and was defeated in 2019.
In the last five years, they said Ramakrishna Reddy struggled with the YSRC which framed criminal cases against him and the party cadre.
Telugu Rythu district president S. Nageswara Rao said people are ready to elect Ramakrishna Reddy with a huge majority. In such a situation, the TD high command should not leave the seat to BJP.
TD Anaparthi mandal president Kovvuri Srinivasa Reddy said the BJP has no cadre in this constituency and giving this seat to the BJP will not prove helpful.
“If the party leaves this Assembly constituency to BJP, the party’s Rajamahendravaram Lok Sabha candidate D. Purandeswari would be defeated as she will not get votes from this constituency,” he said.
The BJP cadre in the Kakinada Assembly segment, however, demanded their party high command to insist on getting the Kakinada seat for the BJP as it has strong leaders and cadre in the constituency.
