In yet another setback to the YSR Congress party in Anantapur district, its senior leader and retired Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Shaik Mohammad Iqbal resigned from the primary membership of the party.
He sent his resignation letter to party president and chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, saying he was quitting the party on personal grounds and asked him to accept the same with immediate effect.
Iqbal, a former inspector general of police in the united Andhra Pradesh, also resigned from his membership in the state legislative council.
He sent a separate letter to council chairman K Moshen Raju, asking him to accept the same immediately, though he has the tenure in the council till 2027.
The former IPS officer, who unsuccessfully contested against Telugu Desam Party star politician Nandamuri Balakrishna from Hindupur assembly constituency in 2019, was expecting the party ticket for the same seat again in the 2024 assembly elections.
However, the YSRCP president announced the candidature of local YSRCP leader T N Deepika to contest against Balakrishna and ignored Iqbal’s claim for the seat. In fact, it was made it clear to Iqbal in July 2023 itself that he won’t be given the party ticket.
Dejected, Iqbal returned to Hyderabad. But he continued to lobby for another seat – Kadiri, which is represented by YSRCP MLA Siddha Reddy. But in the final equations, Iqbal did not get even this seat as Jagan picked up Maqbool Ahmed for the seat.
Peeved at this, Iqbal kept himself away from party activities for quite sometime and finally, he resigned from the party.
In fact, the YSRCP leadership did not completely sideline Iqbal. Though he lost to Balakrishna in the last assembly elections, Jagan accommodated him in the state legislative council as an MLC.
However, Iqbal did not maintain cordial relations with the party leaders within Hindupur, as he had faced dissidence within his party with several elected representatives from municipalities and mandals pointing a finger at him which led to clashes several times.
The murder of former constituency coordinator C. Ramakrishna Reddy in which the personal assistant of the MLC was accused has led to more dissidence for the MLC.
Even after the high command and regional coordinator Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy tried to calm down all groups to strengthen the party for the upcoming polls, the situation remained unsolved.
