Tirupati: Nellore Mayor Potluri Sravanthi and her husband Jayavardhan have announced their resignation from the YSR Congress just days after the party suffered reverses in the assembly and parliament elections.
Addressing the media on Monday, the couple levelled allegations of political coercion, humiliation and harassment from the YSRC leadership. “We were forced to remain with the party and pressured to criticise our mentor, Kotamreddy Sridhar Reddy,” they said.
Sridhar Reddy, who quit the YSRC a year ago, won the Nellore Rural seat on a Telugu Desam ticket this time.
“They repeatedly directed us to speak against Sridhar Reddy, but we refused to utter a single word against him. We hope he accepts us back into his fold after this ordeal,” Sravanthi said.
Husband Jayavardhan accused YSRC leader Adala Prabhakar Reddy of adopting intimidation tactics to force them remain with the party.
In 2023, when Kotamreddy parted ways with YSRC, the mayor couple sided with him. However, they made a surprise U-turn after holding talks with YSRC’s top brass, leaving Kotamreddy upset. With the TD-Jana Sena-BJP alliance’s stunning win of 164 of the 175 assembly seats this time, Sravanthi is in a mood to be with the TD.
“Sridhar Reddy gave me the corporator ticket despite my lack of political background. He also made me the mayor. Many activists like us got opportunities because of him. He gave us courage in politics. We promised Kotamreddy that we would remain with him when he left YSRC. At that time, we faced immense pressure from YSRC leaders to criticise him. We want him to forgive us for our mistakes,” the mayor stated.
The YSRC leadership did not respond to the comments of the mayor and her husband, who are in discussions with Kotamreddy’s camp about joining the Telugu Desam. However, Kotamreddy’s followers are reportedly opposing the mayor couple’s entry into the party.
