Following the recent cabinet reshuffle in Andhra Pradesh, several leaders have been upset at being dropped or not being included in the cabinet. Moreover, four of the 21 YSRC MLAs who had defected to TDP, were inducted.
AP Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Sunday inducted his son Nara Lokesh and 10 others in the Cabinet while dropping five ministers.
This decision has triggered a disagreement in Telugu Desam Party (TDP).
On Sunday, Andhra Forest minister, Gopalakrishna Reddy, who was the MLA from Srikalahasti, submitted his resignation letter to the CM and to the Speaker of the Andhra Pradesh Assembly, Kodela Siva Prasada Rao.
Following this, two other senior leaders viz. TDP general secretary Gorantla Butchaiah Chowdary and legislator Kagitha Venkata Rao, have also quit the party.
On Sunday, Kagitha Venkata Rao organised a meeting with the party cadre, while along with him, MPTCs, ZPTCs, councillors and party mandal presidents also resigned from the party.
It was also reported that TDP leaders at Pedana in Krishna district have called for a bandh on Monday.
The TDP general secretary, Butchaiah Chowdary, was reportedly upset for not being included in the Cabinet despite spending 30 years in the party.
Deccan Chronicle quoted him as saying that the party considered “passing clouds” instead of the one who has stood by it.
According to the Times of India, Vijayawada-Central legislator Bonda Umamaheswara Rao had threatened to resign on Sunday, along with a group of city municipal corporators, however, the TDP managed to pacify him.
Meanwhile, N Chandrababu Naidu's decision to induct four of the 21 defected YSRC MLAs in the Cabinet has received criticism from his political opponents.
The four new ministers, Sujaya Krishna Ranga Rao from Bobbili, C Adinarayana Reddy from Jammalamadugu, N Amaranath Reddy from Palamaner and Bhuma Akhila Priya from Allagadda, are all YSRC MLAs and later defected to the Telugu Desam Party.
According to TOI report, induction of Chadipirala Adinarayana Reddy, legislator from Kadapa district, is aimed at taking on Jagan on his home soil.
Naidu reportedly inducted Akhila Priya and Amarnath Reddy, legislators from Kurnool and Chittoor districts, to strengthen TDP's position in other districts of Rayalaseema.
Terming it a Black Day for Andhra Pradesh, YSRC chief Y S Jaganmohan Reddy was quoted in The New Indian Express as saying that all the defected MLAs had violated the Anti-Defection Law.
“The defenders of the Indian Constitution - the Governor, the Chief Minister and the AP Legislative Assembly Speaker - have violated the law,” the YSRC chief was quoted in TNIE.
Jagan Mohan further alleged that MLAs who were elected on YSRC ticket, had been purchased by the ruling party.
Interestingly, Naidu had earlier criticized TRS government in Telangana for inducting TDP MLA Talasani Srinivas Yadav into the Cabinet in December 2014.
At that time, he had demanded that the defected MLAs in Telangana State should quit and seek re-election.