Another jolt to YSRCP as MLC Pothula Suneetha quits party

Amaravati, Aug 28 : In another setback to the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) in Andhra Pradesh, its MLC Pohtula Suneetha resigned from the party on Wednesday.

She also resigned as a Member of the Legislative Council.

Suneetha, who is also the President of the women’s wing of YSRCP, sent her resignation to YSRCP supremo and former Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, and the Chairman of the Legislative Council.

As per sources, she is likely to join the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP).

Suneetha had quit the TDP and stepped down as an MLC in 2020, though her term in office was till March 3, 2023, citing TDP's alleged activities harming development in the state.

She also openly endorsed the then YSRCP government headed by Jagan Mohan Reddy following which the TDP registered a complaint against her with the Chairman of the Legislative Council seeking her disqualification.

Later, she joined the YSRCP.

In the by-election held in January 2021, Suneetha contested as a YSRCP candidate and was elected unanimously under the MLA quota.

Meanwhile, YSRCP is likely to get more setbacks as two of its Rajya Sabha members are reportedly planning to quit as MPs.

Mopidevi Venkatramna and B. Mastan Rao are likely to submit their resignations to Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankher and later resign from the primary membership of the party.

Some more leaders are also likely to quit YSRCP, which lost power to the TDP-Jana Sena-BJP combine in June.

During the last two months, a few key leaders have quit the party and joined the TDP.

Most recently, Eluru Mayor Sheikh Noorjahan and her husband S.M.R. Pedababu quit the YSRCP and joined the TDP on Tuesday.

The couple along with some other leaders of YSRCP joined the ruling party in the presence of Education Minister and TDP General Secretary Nara Lokesh.

It was a homecoming for Noorjahan and her husband as they had quit the TDP to join the YSRCP five years ago.

Noorjahan entered politics in 2014 by joining the TDP. She became the first woman Mayor of Eluru in 2015. She and her husband quit the TDP and joined YSRCP in 2019.

In 2021, Noorjahan was elected as Eluru Municipal Corporation Mayor for the second time when YSRCP swept the civic elections, winning 47 out of 50 wards.

With the YSRCP losing power to the TDP-led alliance in the recent elections, the couple decided to return to TDP.