The defection of Vizianagaram Zilla Parishad Chairman and former YSRCP district president Majji Srinivasa Rao, popularly known as Chinna Srinu, to the TDP has given the ruling party a potentially valuable organisational boost in North Andhra ahead of the state’s local-body elections.
Political Shift in Amaravati
Srinivasa Rao and his daughter, Siri Sahasra, officially joined the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) on Tuesday. The event took place in Amaravati, with Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu present to welcome them into the party.
The move is politically significant as Srinivasa Rao was regarded as a key YSRCP organiser with a close working relationship with party president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. He is also a close relative of senior YSRCP leader and former minister Botsa Satyanarayana. It raises questions about whether his district-level political network and supporters will follow him into the TDP. The YSRCP has been seeking to make the local polls a test of grassroots strength and a political battle between its organisation and the ruling TDP-led NDA coalition. Infact, the opposition party sources indicated that party chief is planning to field its friend MLAs and MPs and other senior leader as candidate to ensure they remain connected to ground and actively fight the TDP on the ground. Addressing a press conference at the TDP Central Office in Mangalagiri, Reddy alleged that the YSRCP was attempting to create obstacles for newly recruited teachers instead of welcoming the appointment of young professionals.
His exit therefore represents more than the loss of just another party functionary. Srinivasa Rao joined active YSRCP politics in 2015 and subsequently became the party’s Vizianagaram district president and Zilla Parishad chairman.
“The YSRCP’s ‘axe’ attacks on the newly recruited Mega DSC teachers continue,” Reddy said, alleging that the party had repeatedly attempted to obstruct the recruitment process.
