Setback for Jagan as two Rajya Sabha MPs resign from YSRCP

In yet another setback to the YSR Congress party in Andhra Pradesh, two of its Rajya Sabha members resigned from the party and their membership in the Upper House of Parliament on Thursday.

The two MPs – Mopidevi Venkataramana and Beeda Mastan Rao – wrote separate letters to party president and former chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, citing “personal reasons” for their resignations.

Venkataramana and Mastan Rao met Vice-President and Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar and submitted separate resignation letters. Dhankhar later accepted their resignations with immediate effect, people familiar with the matter said.

Venkataramana’s term in Rajya Sabha was set to expire in June 2026, while Mastan Rao’s term was scheduled to end in June 2028.

Following their resignations, YSRCP’s strength in the Rajya Sabha has come down from 11 to nine. “There are indications that a few more Rajya Sabha MPs will also quit the party and their membership,” a party leader said on condition of anonymity.

The resignations come a day after YSRCP women’s wing president and MLC Pothula Sunitha resigned from the party.

Speaking to reporters, Venkataramana said he will soon join the Telugu Desam Party (TDP). “I shall accept whatever responsibility I am given by the party president and chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who is making sincere efforts to develop the state,” he said.

Stating that there were various reasons for quitting the YSRCP, Venkataramana said he had taken the decision after a lot of contemplation. “I was never interested in becoming a Rajya Sabha member, but always wanted to serve the people of my constituency Repalle in Bapatla district,” he said.

“I was very much disturbed with the developments in the YSRCP in the last one year,” he added.

Venkataramana, who entered politics through the Congress in 1989, lost the elections from Kuchinapudi assembly constituency in 1989 and 1994. However, he turned around his fortunes and got elected from the same constituency in 1999 and 2004. In 2009, he got elected from Repalle constituency.

He served as a minister in the cabinets of late YS Rajasekhara Reddy and later N Kiran Kumar Reddy. After the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, Venkataramana joined the YSR Congress party, but lost the assembly elections twice in 2014 and 2019.

He was later nominated to the state legislative council and was inducted into the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy cabinet. In 2020, he was nominated to the Rajya Sabha.

Meanwhile, Mastan Rao thanked Jagan for giving him an opportunity to serve the party and the people. “I have not yet taken a decision on my future course of action. I shall discuss with my followers and supporters on which party I should join,” he said.

Masthan Rao, better known as BM Rao, is the chairman of the BMR Group, a shrimp farming and exports firm with facilities in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. A backward class leader belonging to the Yadava community, his political journey began with the TDP in 1983 and was elected as MLA from Kavali assembly seat in 2004 and 2009.

He lost to the YSRCP candidate from Kavali in 2014. In the 2019 general elections, he contested from the Nellore Lok Sabha seat but lost to the YSRCP candidate. He was also a member of the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority.

In December 2019, Mastan Rao joined the YSRCP after quitting TDP over “personal reasons”, and became a Rajya Sabha MP in 2022.

YSRCP strongly reacted to the resignations of the two MPs, with former minister and party spokesman Ambati Rambabu saying it’s unfortunate some leaders were defecting to the TDP just because YSRCP lost power. “They have lost their dignity and image. Such leaders won’t get the support of the people,” he said.

Another senior YSRCP leader and former minister Kakani Goverdhan Reddy alleged that chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu was poaching YSRCP leaders by promising them attractive positions. “During his earlier stint, Naidu lured 23 YSRCP MLAs and in the subsequent elections, his party ended up with 23 seats in the assembly,” he said.