Senior YSRCP Leader Avanthi Srinivasa Rao Resigns From Party, Cites 'Lack Of Respect'

Former Andhra Pradesh minister Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao also questioned the timing of the YSRCP’s call to agitate against the Telugu Desam Party (TDP)-led NDA government. 

Srinivasa served as Tourism, Culture, and Youth Advancement Minister in the YSRCP government from 2019 to 2022.

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Senior YSRCP leader and former Andhra Pradesh minister Avanthi Srinivasa Rao announced his resignation from the party on Thursday. He quoted "personal reasons" for stepping down from the party. He also flagged concerns over the treatment of leaders and cadres and dissatisfaction with the party's functioning.

In his resignation letter to party chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, Srinivasa, also known as Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao, stated, “As I have decided to stay away from politics due to personal reasons, I am resigning from the YSRCP and Bheemili constituency in-charge responsibilities." He expressed gratitude to the former Chief Minister for the opportunities given to him.

Srinivasa alleged that leaders and cadres in the YSRCP were neither respected politically nor financially. He added that the party's members had endured significant hardships over the past five years. He criticised the leadership's unilateral style of functioning and batted for democratic functioning of the party.

The former minister also questioned the timing of the YSRCP’s call to agitate against the Telugu Desam Party (TDP)-led NDA government. 

Srinivasa served as Tourism, Culture, and Youth Advancement Minister in the YSRCP government from 2019 to 2022. He represented the Bheemili constituency in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly. However, he lost his seat in the May 2024 elections wherein TDP-led NDA alliance swept the polls.

Before joining the YSRCP, Srinivasa was elected to the Lok Sabha from Anakapalli on a TDP ticket in 2014. He later switched allegiance to the YSRCP and contested successfully in the 2019 Assembly elections.

Srinivasa’s resignation comes amid a string of exits from the YSRCP following its electoral setback. Several prominent leaders, including three Rajya Sabha members, have left the party since its loss to the TDP-Jana Sena-BJP alliance. The alliance secured a landslide victory in the May 2024 elections, winning 164 out of 175 Assembly seats and 21 out of 25 Lok Sabha seats.