Former MLA of erstwhile Vepanjeri Assembly constituency R. Gandhi on February 5 (Monday) quit the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), alleging oppression of the Dalits in Andhra Pradesh.
Mr. Gandhi was a TDP MLA between 1994 and 1999 before joining the YSRCP in 2011. Addressing the media here, Mr. Gandhi said that he would be joining the TDP in the presence of the party’s national president N. Chandrababu Naidu during the “ Raa Kadali Raa” programme at Gangadhara Nellore on February 6 (Tuesday).
“I tried to get an appointment of Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, but I could not succeed even once in the last 12 years. I called Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s secretary last month, seeking an appointment but I did not get any response,” he said.
The former MLA alleged that Minister for Forests P. Ramachandra Reddy was given to humiliate the Dalit MLAs in Chittoor. “The Minister did an injustice to Satyavedu MLA Koneti Adimulam and Chittoor MLA M.S. Babu by denying them the party tickets for coming elections. Chittoor MP Reddappa still can’t sit in front of Mr. Ramachandra Reddy,” Mr. Gandhi alleged.
Apart from the Dalits, Mr. Ramachandra Reddy was “vindictive towards the backward classes and weaker sections. “After joining the TDP, I will launch my agitation to expose the oppression of Dalits in the YSRCP regime,” he said.
