Steady stream of desertions from Jagan's YSRCP in Andhra Pradesh

Amaravati: YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSRCP, the opposition party in Andhra Pradesh, continues to suffer a steady stream of desertions from the party’s top leaders, Rajya Sabha members, corporators and others.

This exodus phenomenon started prior to the 2024 general elections and continues to be unabated even after four months of the new NDA alliance of TDP, BJP and Janasena forming the government in the southern state.

Nearly half a dozen MPs quit the party before the polls, some of whom, such as L Sri Krishnadevarayalu and M Srinivasulu Reddy, went on to be re-elected as TDP MPs.

The latest high-profile exit, by B Srinivasa Reddy, is a major jolt to the party.

Srinivasa Reddy is a relative of Jagan Mohan Reddy and an ex-minister who had been with the former CM right from the time the party was set up in 2011.

In fact, he even quit his ministerial position once in solidarity with Jagan Mohan Reddy when he was booked under several alleged corruption cases by the Congress government between 2009 and 2014.

Following his exit from the party recently, Srinivasa Reddy met with Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan and is expected to join Janasena party soon.

On August 29, two YSRCP Rajya Sabha MPs, M Venkataramana Rao and B Masthan Rao Yadav, had resigned from the upper house and also from the opposition party.

Likewise, several lower rung leaders are also quitting the party to join the ruling NDA parties of TDP, Janasena and BJP.