Ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, following numerous disagreements with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and YSRCP chief Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, Kanumuru Raghu Ramakrishna Raju, the rebel Member of Parliament representing Narasapuram, has announced his resignation from the party.
In a letter directed to YS Jagan on Saturday, MP likened him to Mahmud of Ghazni, saying, “Your multiple and steady efforts like Mohammad Gajni to get me disqualified from my Parliamentary Membership haven’t yielded till date your desired result.”
“However every time you made an attempt, I also have equally made laudable, positive and even more powerful efforts working for my constituency and its holistic development as well its constituents at Narsapuram for the last 3.5 years despite of your hostility and malicious brutal acts to physically eliminate me,” he added.
“As a mark of my strong conviction towards serving for public good, I hereby tender my resignation for the primary active membership of YSRC Party and expect you to accept the same with a prompt reply or response at your earliest convenience. As the time has come for all of us to face the Public Probity and mandate it will free both of us from this unsavoury association once for all,” he further added in the letter.
Raju now joins a growing list of YSRCP MPs who have recently parted ways with the party. Since January, Lok Sabha MPs Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu (Narasaraopet), Vallabhaneni Balashowry (Machilipatnam), and Sanjeev Kumar (Kurnool) have tendered their resignations from both the party and Parliament, reportedly in response to requests to change constituencies. Additionally, Rajya Sabha MP Vemireddy Prabhakar Reddy has also resigned from the party citing “personal reasons.”
However, there are speculations suggesting that he might switch allegiance to the TDP and be nominated as a candidate for the Nellore Lok Sabha seat, reports The Indian Express.
Raju had quit the YSRCP in 2014 after being denied a ticket for that year’s Lok Sabha polls and had joined the BJP, only to return to the YSRCP in 2019.
He had defeated TDP candidate Kalvapudi Siva by 30,000 votes.
The MP had targeted the YS Jagan government over its decision to convert all Telugu-medium government schools into English medium as well as corruption in welfare schemes.
Following repeated attacks, YS Jagan had written to Speaker Om Birla seeking Raju’s disqualification. Meanwhile, the rebel MP wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing the CM of promoting Christianity and violating the Constitution.