The entry of ex-MLA Dronamraju Srinivas is a shot-in-the arm for the YSRCP in Vizag district.
In a cosmopolitan city like Vizag, the YSRCP has been struggling to find leaders who are household names in the city.
YS Vijayamma lost the 2014 election from Vizag as the TDP had successfully managed to brainwash the public into believing that ‘Rayalaseema faction culture’ would enter Vizag if she won.
When YSR led the Congress to victory in 2004, it was a clean sweep in Vizag as well with all four Congress candidates comprising Dronamraju Satyanarayana, Rangaraju, Karri Seetharam and Tippala Gurumurthy Reddy winning in their respective constituencies.
However, Uttarandhra strongman Dronamraju who grew from a Sarpanch to becoming a major player in the Congress Party made an error in judgement.
He backed Neduramalli Janardhan Reddy who successfully won the Lok Sabha election from Vizag but YSR became the Chief Minister and that meant that Dronamraju could not become the Minister.
Instead, YSR gave the Post of Commercial Taxes Minister to Konathala Ramakrishna, one-time disciple-turned- foe of Dronamraju.
The latter’s untimely death led to his son Srinivas contesting the by poll in which he won comfortably.
Konathala also patched up with the Dronamraju family and Srinivas won again in 2009 from Vizag South.
One of Srinivas’ biggest qualities is his loyalty to the Congress leadership. He supported YSR, Rossaiah and Kiran Kumar Reddy and remained in the Congress post-bifurcation.
Although he lost badly in the election on a Congress ticket, Srinivas stayed put in the Party hoping or a turnaround in fortunes. But he has now seen the writing on the wall.
It will be political suicide to continue with the Congress as the Party has become a complete non-entity in Andhra.
Joining the TDP would be out of the question as the Dronamraju family has always been at loggerheads with that Party. For some time now, the YSRCP has been sending feelers to Srinivas and he has finally joined them.
While Srinivas has said that he is willing to contest from any constituency proposed by Jagan, the best option would be fielding him from Vizag South, where he won twice. There are a sizeable number of Brahmin votes there which proved a key factor in his victory.
Having said that, Srinivas has the capability to win from any constituency in Vizag, given that his family has its own cadre and pockets of influence.
Among those who joined the YSRCP along with him included City Congress Committee president Behera Bhaskara Rao, former VUDA Chairman PSN Raju (Ravi) and former corporators J Appalaraju, Banala Srinivasa Rao and Pothula Satyanarayana.
The entry of Dronamraju is indeed a much needed tonic for the YSRCP in Vizag.
