‘No value to our self-respect’: YSRCP MP Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy resigns

Hyderabad: Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) MP from Ongole parliamentary constituency Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy on Wednesday resigned from the party, stating that he would not like to continue in the party where he had no respect.

Addressing a press conference at Ongole, the 71-year-old leader said he was forced to leave the YSRCP under unavoidable circumstances. “It is a sad development, but I cannot compromise on my self-respect,” he said.

The MP said the Magunta family was a brand in the entire Prakasam district and it would give a lot of importance to self-respect than anything else. “We don’t have ego, but have self-respect and we cannot continue where there is no value to our self-respect,” he said.

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Announcing his resignation, he said that his son Magunta Raghava Reddy would contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from Ongole. Both father and son are accused turned approvers in the Delhi excise policy scam.

He thanked YSRCP president and chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy for giving him an opportunity to serve the party for the last five years.

The MP said he would disclose his future course of action shortly. However, a YSRCP leader familiar with the development said he and his son would be joining the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) shortly and Raghava Reddy was assured of the TDP ticket from Ongole parliamentary constituency.

Sreenivasulu is the sixth YSRCP MP to quit the party in the last one month, the other five being Kurnool MP Sanjeev Kumar, Machilipatnam MP Vallabhana Balashowry, Narsaraopet MP Lavu Srikrishna Devarayalu and Narasapuram MP Kanmuru Raghu Ramakrishna Raju, besides Rajya Sabha member Vemireddy Prabhakar Reddy.

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Both Sreenivasulu and his son Raghava, whose family has been in the liquor business for more than four decades, were among the accused in the Delhi liquor policy scam.

The father-son duo was accused of being part of the South Group that allegedly offered Rs.100 crore bribe in the formation of the now-scrapped policy. On February 10, 2023, the Enforcement Directorate arrested Raghava under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with the case.

He was charge sheeted on April 6, 2023, and on June 7, the Delhi high court granted him a 15-day conditional bail, which was later extended to four weeks.

In October 2023, Raghava, along with Aurobindo Pharma director P Sarat Chandra Reddy, another accused in the scam, turned approvers. On February 1, 2024, Delhi’s rouse avenue court granted anticipatory bail to Raghava and also pardoned him in the case.