Former Andhra Pradesh minister Avanthi Srinivas quits YSR Congress

Visakhapatnam (The Uttam Hindu):  Former Andhra Pradesh minister Avanthi Srinivas resigned on Thursday from the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP). Srinivas announced his resignation both as YSRCP in-charge for the Bheemili Assembly constituency and from the primary membership of the party at a press conference here.

He sent his resignation letter to the YSRCP president and former chief minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and the party's North Andhra coordinator Vijayasai Reddy, mentioning that he would like to distance himself from politics for personal reasons. Avanthi Srinivas criticised Jagan Mohan Reddy and advised him to honour the people's mandate. The former minister found fault with the YSRCP chief's decision to stage protests over various issues.

He said people have given the mandate to the Telugu Desam Party-led coalition for five years and it was not proper to call 'dharna' without giving even five months to the coalition government. Srinivas also slammed the YSRCP leadership for "ignoring" the party workers. Alleging that there is no internal democracy in the YSRCP, he said party workers "suffered" for the last five years.

He said Jagan Mohan Reddy used to give orders by sitting in Tadepalli but party workers suffered on the ground. Srinivas, whose real name is Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao, was elected to the Assembly from the Bheemili constituency on a YSRCP ticket in 2019. He was minister for tourism, culture and youth advancement in the YSRCP government from 2019 to 2022.

He, however, suffered defeat from the same constituency in the elections held in May this year. Avanthi Srinivas was elected to Lok Sabha from Anakapalli on a TDP ticket in 2014. He later joined YSRCP. Several leaders, including three Rajya Sabha members, have quit the YSRCP since it lost power to the TDP-led NDA in May.

TDP-Jana Sena-BJP alliance stormed to power with a landslide victory in the May 13 elections. The alliance bagged 164 out of 175 Assembly seats and 21 out of 25 Lok Sabha seats. The YSRCP, which had come to power in 2019 by winning 151 Assembly seats, could win only 11 seats. The party managed to win only four out of 25 Lok Sabha seats in the state.