Mangalagiri MLA Alla Ramakrishna Reddy, who quit the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) in December last year, has rejoined the party in the presence of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Tuesday, February 20. Ramakrishna Reddy, accompanied by YSRCP Member of P Ayodhya Rami Reddy, met the CM at his camp office.
“Jagan said he thought of me as his younger brother and expressed his confidence in my ability to serve the party like I had been doing earlier. I assured him that I would make every effort to ensure the victory of the party’s candidate, whoever it is. I made a mistake two months ago, and I am getting to fix that now,” Ramakrishna Reddy told the media after his meeting with the CM. He also stated that the YSRCP will return to power in the upcoming Andhra Pradesh elections under Jagan’s leadership.
Calling himself a “YSR man and a YSR devotee,” he added, “I have never criticised either Sharmila or Jagan. What’s happening between them is a family problem and I believe they will sort it out by themselves sooner or later.”
After quitting the YSRCP, it was speculated that Ramakrishna Reddy would join the Congress party under its president YS Sharmila. He was also spotted with Sharmila on a few occasions after she was appointed state Congress chief. He had even accompanied Sharmila to Jagan’s residence when she went there to hand over an invitation card for her son’s marriage.
It is learnt that the YSRCP promised to give him key responsibilities in the constituency for the upcoming Assembly elections, which prompted his sudden return to the party.
It was on December 11, 2023, that Ramakrishna Reddy announced his resignation from YSRCP as well as the Assembly due to “personal reasons.” He had submitted his resignation to the Speaker’s office but it was not accepted by the Speaker.
He was reportedly unhappy over the appointment of Ganji Chiranjeevi as constituency incharge for Mangalagiri by the YSRCP leadership. He was also allegedly hurt over the demands from a group within the party not to give him a ticket for the forthcoming elections.
Ramakrishna Reddy had defeated Telugu Desam Party (TDP) general secretary Nara Lokesh in the 2019 elections from Managalgiri, which covers Amaravati capital region. This was his second win from the constituency after 2014, both on YSRCP tickets. He had also filed innumerable cases against the then TDP government with regard to the Amaravati land issue.
With IANS inputs