It is more or less certain that Rajya Sabha MP and YSR Congress party Nellore district unit president Vemireddy Prabhakar Reddy is most likely to quit the party and join the Telugu Desam Party sooner or later.
Vemireddy is expected to make a statement on Wednesday afternoon, after holding a meeting of his followers and supporters in Nellore. In a day or two, he would formally join the TDP, sources said.
Vemireddy, who was originally chosen as the YSRCP candidate for Nellore Lok Sabha seat, was in fact very comfortable in the party till a few days ago and was calling shots both in the district as well as Delhi.
“Vemireddy still has good relations with party president and chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy and has never made any comments either against him or his government. It is really surprising why he chose to quit the party,” a party leader observed.
According to sources, the Rajya Sabha member was upset, not with Jagan as such, but with the coterie around the chief minister, which is promoting groupism in the party in Nellore district.
“After he was made party president of Nellore district, he was facing groupism from leaders like Kakani Goverdhan Reddy and Anil Kumar Yadav,” sources said.
While he managed to get Anil Kumar Yadav shifted to Narsaraopet Lok Sabha constituency, he could not stop the latter’s close aide Md Khaleel Ahmed from being declared as the party candidate for the Nellore city assembly seat for the 2024 polls.
Miffed with the party taking a decision without consulting him, Vemireddy felt offended, called off his poll campaign and went into a complete exile.
When he tried to approach Jagan, he could not get the appointment; but the leaders in the Jagan coterie spoke to Vemireddy in an insulting tone, sources said.
A senior leader, who claims to be close to Jagan told Vemireddy: “You decide quickly whether you want to contest from Nellore Lok Sabha seat or not. Otherwise, we shall look for an alternative candidate.”
This has hurt the pride of Vemireddy, who has been financially helping the party in Nellore district.
“After that, he decided to cut off links with the party. He later met TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu and got an assurance for the seat, apart from getting other demands conceded,” sources said.
