The YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) MLA Alla Ramakrishna Reddy tendered his resignation, in a Speaker format, to the Assembly Speaker on December 11. He resigned his party membership as well.
Mr. Ramakrishna Reddy, speaking to media, thanked the people of Mangalagiri for electing him twice. He said that he served with dedication. “Though it is painful, it is necessary to take a harsh decision. The resignation was submitted in Speaker format. As the Speaker was not available, the resignation was submitted to his OSD,” he said.
He even thanked Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy for giving an opportunity to contest twice. He said that he was resigning his MLA post and party membership on personal grounds and that he would disclose his future course of action very soon.
Though his resignation is a sudden development, not an unexpected one. Mr. Ramakrishna Reddy is apparently not happy with the political developments in the recent past, and “indifferent response” from the officials to issues relating to his constituency raised by him.
More so, there is a talk in the political circles that he might not get a chance to contest from Managalgiri constituency in the 2024 elections. It is being widely publicised that the YSRCP might filed a candidate from Backward Classes (BC) community in ensuing elections.
Mr. Ramakrishna Reddy got elected as MLA for the first time in 2014 and again in 2019. He defeated Ganji Chiranjeevi, who hails from the dominant weaver community and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) candidate in 2014, with a narrow margin of nine votes.
In 2019, the TDP national general secretary Nara Lokesh entered the fray from Managalgiri and lost the election by a margin of more than 9,000 votes margin to Mr. Ramakrishna Reddy. And it was widely speculated that he would be inducted into the Cabinet by Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy. He missed the berth, even after ‘Cabinet reschedule’ due to caste equations.
CM Jagan Mohan Reddy invited Mr. Chiranjeevi into the party fold on August 29. Mr. Chiranjeevi is made in-charge of the Constituency in-charge as well. The equations changed swiftly thereafter.
It may be recalled that Mr. Ramakrishna Reddy was very vocal against the TDP national president and former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s residence at Undavalli. He even lodged a complaint alleging a quid pro quo took place between Mr. Naidu and Lingamaneni Ramesh, owner of the house.
The Home Department issued attachment orders through a G.O. Ms. No. 89 on May 12, 2023, based on the investigation report submitted by the Andhra Pradesh Crime Investigation Department (CID). In the G.O., the government explained that “The CID investigated these allegations based on the complaint given by the YSR Congress Party Alla Rama Krishna Reddy, MLA from Mangalagiri Assembly Constituency.
The CID registered a case in Cr. No. 16/2022 under Sections 120(B), 409, 420, 34, 35, 37, 166, 167 and 217 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and Section 13(2), read with Section 13(1)(c) and (d) of the Prevention of the Corruption Act 1988.”
