Will Vamsi Krishna Yadav’s move trigger an exodus of community leaders to JSP in Visakhapatnam district?

Will Vamsi Krishna Yadav’s move trigger an exodus of community leaders to JSP in Visakhapatnam district? A leader who holds considerable sway in the Yadava community, which comprises 20-25% of the voters in Visakhapatnam district, Vamsi Krishna’s cross over to the opposition party is said to be a blow to the ruling YSRCP.

With Chennuboina Sreenivasa Rao, popularly known as Vamsi Krishan Yadav, a Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) representing the Visakhapatnam Local Authorities constituency, switching loyalties from the ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) to the Jana Sena Party (JSP), speculation is rife that there may be an exodus of leaders and voters from the Yadava community in the district.

A noted leader in the community, Mr. Vamsi had lost narrowly twice to Telugu Desam Party (TDP) strongman Velagapudi Ramakrishna Babu in the Visakhapatnam (East) constituency — first in 2009 when he had contested on the ticket of Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) floated by actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi and second when he was in the fray on the YSRCP ticket in 2014.

In 2019, he was denied ticket by YSRCP president and Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, which caused quite a heartburn. The party had then plumped for another Yadava leader Akkaramani Vijaya Nirmala.

Mr. Vamsi had then decided to quit, but was convinced to stay put. He was later given a corporator ticket and finally made MLC.

But for some unknown reasons, Mr. Vamsi has been unhappy for quite sometime with the YSRCP leadership. Sources say that he has not been given the prominence he deserves in the party. He had, on several occasions, complained of the party being run by a few leaders without scope for democratic debate or discussion on pertinent issues.

Speculation is rife that Ms. Vijaya Nirmala will also move out of the YSRCP and join the JSP. After losing to Mr. Ramakrishna Babu in 2019, she was given the chairmanship of the Visakhapatnam Metropolitan Region Development Authority (VMRDA).

“If that happens, an exodus can be expected,” says former TDP legislator Palla Srinivasa Rao, who also hails from the community.