NEW DELHI, Mar 5
In the wake of the desertions of its leaders and a bid to counter the Telugu Desam Party (TDP)-Jana Sena Party (JSP) combine, the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) has decided to field its national general secretary V Vijayasai Reddy from the Nellore Lok Sabha seat. The party made its intention clear by appointing Vijayasai Reddy its Nellore constituency in-charge on Saturday.
Party insiders said the TDP-JSP alliance, coupled with anti-incumbency, was in a position to wean away a major chunk of the YSRCP’s votes. “Party president (and Andhra Pradesh CM Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy) has asked me to contest (from Nellore Lok Sabha seat). We have to counter the influence and propaganda of the TDP and JSP,” Vijayasai Reddy told The Indian Express. Vijayasai Reddy is likely to face his former party and Rajya Sabha colleague V Prabhakar Reddy who is now in the TDP. The Nellore seat has seven Assembly constituencies under it while Nellore district has 10 Assembly segments in total.
In 2019, the YSRCP swept the district, winning all the seats. However, sources said the party now senses anti-incumbency in many of these constituencies and hence it was decided to replace sitting MP A Prabhakara Reddy as his chances of victory seem slim.
Meanwhile, Vijayasai Reddy exuded confidence that the YSRCP would trounce the TDP-JSP combine. “Chandrababu Naidu and Pawan Kalyan are waiting for the BJP to join them but I am not sure if that will happen. The results (of the simultaneous Assembly and Lok Sabha polls) will show that they are just spreading propaganda. A former chartered accountant with a flourishing career, Vijayasai Reddy (66) is a sitting Rajya Sabha MP and the Parliamentary Party leader of the YSRCP. Known to be close to the YSR family since the 1980s, he has twice served as a member of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) board. He was recently appointed the party’s regional coordinator for Bapatla, Nellore, Prakasam and Narasaraopet.
On the other hand, the YSRCP postponed the fourth and final leg of its “Siddham (ready for elections)” meeting, which was scheduled to be held on Sunday in Addanki in Bapatla district. Sources said the meeting would now be held on March 10 as the party feels elections may be announced anytime between March 13 and 15. Vijayasai Reddy said lakhs of people were expected to attend the meeting.
Vijayasai Reddy’s appointment comes in the backdrop of five party MPs quitting in the recent past, reportedly over being asked to switch seats. Over the past two weeks, the YSRCP has seen the exit of Lavu Srikrishna Devarayalu (Narasaraopet), Vallabhaneni Balashowry (Machilipatnam), K Raghu Ramakrishna Raju (Narasapuram), Sanjeev Kumar (Kurnool) and V Prabhakar Reddy (Rajya Sabha MP).
