Yet another senior YSR Congress Party leader and former legislator from the Jaggayyapet assembly constituency, Samineni Udaya Bhanu, is set to resign from the party, delivering a significant blow to party president Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy.
The news of Samineni’s impending resignation surfaced just a day after another senior leader and former minister, Balineni Srinivas Reddy, quit the party in protest against the alleged injustice he faced within the party.
According to sources, Samineni, who served as the government whip during Jagan Mohan Reddy’s tenure, is expected to hold a meeting with his followers and party workers in Jaggayyapet on Friday before formally submitting his resignation to the party president.
Sources also indicated that Samineni, along with his supporters, plans to join the Jana Sena Party on September 22.
Around the same time, Balineni is also expected to join the Jana Sena Party, and he is scheduled to meet party president and Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan on Thursday.
Udaya Bhanu made his electoral debut in 1999 representing the Congress Party and was given the party ticket for Jaggayyapet.
He won the seat by defeating Rajagopal Sreeram (Tatayya) of the Telugu Desam Party in the subsequent assembly elections with a margin of 4,778 votes.
He secured the Jaggayyapet seat again in 2004 on a Congress ticket, defeating Nettam Sriraghuram of the TDP by a margin of 11,694 votes. However, he lost the 2009 and 2014 elections to Rajagopal Sreeram.
In 2019, Udaya Bhanu was re-elected from the same constituency, once again defeating Sreeram. In August 2023, he was appointed to the TTD Trust Board. He also served as the government whip during his tenure.
