After the recentAssembly and Lok Sabha elections exposed them to humiliating defeats, the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) has been undergoing resignations en masse as prominent leaders have all been leaving the party. Former ministers, MPs, MLAs, and MLCs from most districts are leaving the party, which signals a major crisis for the party.
Former MLA Pendem Dorababu from Pithapuram in Kakinada district was one of the first to announce his resignation. He was followed by MLCs Pothula Sunitha, Kalyan Chakravarthy, and Karri Padmashri, who also stepped down. Rajya Sabha members Beeda Mastan Rao, Mopidevi Venkataramana, and R. Krishnaiah also resigned from YSRCP and joined the Telugu Desam Party (TDP).
The situation worsened when former minister Balineni Srinivasa Reddy from Prakasam district and former whip Samineni Udayabhanu from NTR district also resigned, joining the Jana Sena Party. Additionally, former MLA Kilari Venkata Rosayya from Guntur district followed suit and quit YSRCP.
In a new jolt to the party, former minister Avanthi Srinivas, too, resigned. The former minister said he was avoiding active politics for personal reasons and wrote a letter to party chief Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy stated that he was resigning from his in-charge post of Bheemili constituency and also from primary membership of the party.
Not long after Avanthi’s resignation, former MLA Grandhi Srinivas from Bhimavaram also decided to leave YSRCP, sending his resignation letter to Jagan Mohan Reddy. Grandhi, too, mentioned personal reasons for his departure. He had contested from Bhimavaram in the 2024 Assembly elections but was defeated by Jana Sena candidate Pulaparthi Ramanjaneyulu (Anjibabu). Since his loss, he had distanced himself from the party.