Vijayawada: Umpteen switches to miff many

Vijayawada : The infighting in YSRCP does not seem to be coming to an end and the party is still in the process of trying to convince the dissidents before it could announce the fourth list. Sources said that the party was contemplating to make at least 10 to15 changes in the fourth list which may be announced before the weekend.

Ongole is one such constituency which is facing serious trouble. Party leader and former minister Balineni Srinivas Reddy had been insisting that the party give the Lok Sabha ticket to Magunta Srinivas Reddy and he should be retained from the Ongole Assembly constituency.

Initially, the party wanted Balineni to contest from Giddaluru and bring Sidda Raghav Rao to Ongole. But Sidda refused to contest from Ongole. Balineni even hinted at quitting the party if he was not given the ticket. He waited in Vijayawada for three days last week to meet party chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. When it did not happen, a miffed Balineni left Vijayawada and came to Hyderabad.

On Wednesday, he again went to the CM camp office along with his son and it was speculated that he would tell the party leadership to either retain him or give the ticket to his son. Though he met the party coordinators Vijayasai Reddy and Sajjal Ramakrishna Reddy, he left the place from a different exit and refused to speak to the media.

On the other hand minister Jogi Ramesh, who is sitting MLA from Pedana, has been shifted to the Penamuluru constituency which was represented by Kolusu Pardhasaradhi. But the party’s local leadership is unhappy with this change. P Suresh Babu, who was expecting the ticket following the exit of Pardhasaradhi, is now refusing to cooperate with Jogi Ramesh. He had even put up banners against Ramesh. Though Ramesh met Suresh and sought his cooperation on Wednesday, he has been non-committal.

On the other hand, the fate of Deputy Chief Minister Narayana Swamy is still hanging in balance. Narayana Swamy represents the Gangadhara Nellore SC constituency. He has been holding meetings with his followers who made it clear that if he was replaced by another candidate, they would quit the party.

In the backdrop of this situation, the YSRCP is learnt to have postponed the release of its fourth list of party in-charges and candidates.