Former minister and senior YSR Congress party legislator from Ongole Balineni Srinivasa Reddy is said to be feeling suffocated in the party with his detractors within the party gaining upper hand in the Prakasam district politics.
The suspension of two of his hardcore followers – Bhavanam Srinivas Reddy and Peddireddy Suryaprakash Reddy from the party by the party high command on Tuesday is understood to have caused a lot of heartburn for Balineni.
The suspension was apparently done at the instructions of party president and chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy following a complaint from former MLA Amanchi Krishna Mohan, who has been appointed as the in-charge of Parchur assembly constituency.
Bhavanam Srinivas Reddy, who also belongs to Parchur assembly constituency, has been the YSRCP observer for Santhanuthalapadu constituency. His wife is also a ZPTC member from Parchur. He is the close follower of Balineni and is said to be running a group against Amanchi in Parchur.
For quite some time, Amanchi has been engaged in confrontation with Balineni, who had a lot of control over the party in Prakasam district. But after Amanchi defected from the TDP to YSRCP, he has been dominating the area.
The rivalry between the two led to the suspension of Bhavanam and Peddireddy from the party, without the knowledge of Balineni. This has angered the former minister.
Sources said Balineni, who was fuming with the latest development, is likely to take up the issue with Jagan.
He is learnt to have given an ultimatum to the leadership to revoke the suspension of the two leaders within 48 hours, failing which, he threatened, he would take serious decision.
What went wrong between Balineni and Jagan remains a mystery, but it is very clear that the chief minister is somehow not happy with Balineni and his style of functioning. It remains to be seen whether the Ongole MLA gets the party ticket again or not this time.
