As YSR Congress party president and chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy is making all out efforts to bring the party to power for a second successive term, a series of group rivalries within the party, particularly in erstwhile combined Krishna district, has become a big headache for him.
The latest slugfest between Machilipatnam Lok Sabha member V Balashowry and local MLA, former minister Perni Venkatramaiah alias Nani has created an uproar in the party. Balashowry has alleged that Nani was trying to stall his entry into Machilipatnam.
Balashowry alleged that Nani has joined hands with Telugu Desam Party leader and ex-MP Konakalla Narayana and former Union minister Sujana Chowdary, who are attacking day and in day out.
Nani’s group says Balashowry is a non-local imported from Guntur and he has not done anything for Machilipatnam.
When the MP came to Machilipatnam to participate in an official programme on Friday, Nani followers shouted Balashowry go back and stalled his entry. This enraged the MP, who said he would stay put in Machilipatnam and challenged Nani to stop him, if he could.
On Saturday, Jagan sent a message to both the MP and the MLA to end their differences and work together for the party. He asked both of them not to make any public comments against each other.
On the other hand, infighting in the YSRC in Gannavaram reached its peak on Saturday when senior leader Yarlagadda Venkat Rao declared himself as the party candidate for the assembly seat in the next elections.
He and another leader Dutta Ramachandra Rao made strong comments against sitting MLA Vallabhaneni Vamsi, who defected from the Telugu Desam party to YSRC in 2019.
Reacting strongly to these comments, Vamsi said he had been blessed by the people of Gannavaram constituency in the last elections.
“They know what I have been doing for the constituency. These road-side leaders, who project themselves as Justice Chowdaries make all sorts of comments, which I don’t care,” he said.
He said Yarlagadda and Dutta, who had any complaints against him, could go to chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy and express their grievances, but could not make public comments against him.
Reacting to the rebels’ comments describing him as a villain, Vamsi said the people of Gannavaram would reveal who was villain and who was a hero.
“If I am a villain, are these two leaders Tollywood heroes – Mahesh Babu and Prabhas?” he asked.
Stating that he had seen several people like Dutta and Yarlagadda, who don’t don any work but create hurdles for others, the MLA said all those who made false allegations against him belonged to Chandrababu Naidu school.
Jagan has already made an attempt to bring about a patch-up among the groups, but so far, it has not worked.
