Firebrand YSR Congress party leader and former minister R K Roja, who faced a tough battle not only against the Telugu Desam Party but also against dissenters within her own party in the Nagari assembly constituency, Chittoor district, during the recent elections, has finally had the last laugh.
Just a day after meeting party president and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy at his Tadepalli camp office, Roja succeeded in getting her detractors in Nagari expelled from the party, thereby neutralizing her internal opponents.
On Friday, YSRCP Chittoor district president and MLC K J Bharat announced the expulsion of senior party leader and former AP Eediga Corporation chairperson K J Shanti and her husband K J Kumar, who was the state general secretary of the YSRCP trade union, on disciplinary grounds.
"It was found that Kumar and Shanti were working against the party's philosophy and ideology, based on complaints from local party leaders. After due inquiry, they are hereby expelled from the primary membership of the party. From now on, they have no association with YSRCP," the statement said.
The K.J. couple had been in a bitter feud with Roja for the past three years. Both factions organized separate party events, and there were even instances of clashes between them.
Although Jagan had tried to mediate a reconciliation between Shanti and Roja during a visit to Nagari, it was unsuccessful.
In the recent assembly elections, Roja lost the Nagari seat to TDP candidate Gali Bhanuprakash by a significant margin of over 45,000 votes. Roja suspected that the Shanti faction had sabotaged her chances.
Following her defeat, the Shanti group celebrated Roja’s loss. Shanti even released a video message, declaring it a festive day for the people of Nagari, claiming they had rid themselves of a "10-year-old curse."
She accused Roja of paying the price for corruption, blackmailing, and nepotism, asserting that the people had given her a fitting lesson.
Nearly three months later, Roja regained the upper hand over her rivals within the party by having them expelled.
