After suffering a demoralising defeat in the recent assembly elections, the YSR Congress party in Andhra Pradesh is facing an existential crisis because it is not easy to keep its flock together after losing the opposition status as it was confined to just 11 seats out of 175 segments. Now that the leaders who feel that the party has no future are likely to jump fence. Some of them may even quit politics and hang their boots.
Close on heels after senior leader Ravela Kishore Babu called it quits to the party, another leader decided to put an end to his political journey. Former Vijayawada MP Kesineni Nani ( Srinivas), who defected the YSRCP just before the elections after denied ticket by the TDP, faced a crushing defeat in the hands of his own brother Kesineni Chinni by a margin of 2,82,085 votes.
In a surprising revelation, Kesineni Nani announced that he is stepping away from politics and conclude his political journey. He thanked the people of Vijayawada for giving him an incredible opportunity to serve them for ten years.
Nani won as Vijayawada MP with a thumping majority in 2014. Even when the YSRCP came to power with a stunning mandate in 2019, Nani retained his seat despite huge anti-incumbency on TDP. He was one the three MPs who represented TDP in Loksabha in the last five years.
Nani was sidelined from TDP’s campaign this time because the party high command got negative feedback on him from remaining leaders of Vijayawada constituency. Further, his anti-party statements distanced him away from Naidu and Lokesh. This led to a clear communication gap between Nani and the party.
Meanwhile, Naidu announced ticket to Nani’s brother Kesineni Chinni. This has infuriated Nani and forced him to desert the party. As expected, he jumped fence into the YSRCP in the last minute. Though he was given MP ticket by Jagan Mohan Reddy, his defeat was inevitable as expected by political circles. He finally lost in an embarrassing manner.
Changing the party proved to be a colossal mistake on part of Nani. As the party suffered unprecedented defeat, he has no other option but to stay with the YSRCP or say goodbye. He was recently seen at the review meeting of YSRCP held by Jagan. Those who saw the visuals of the meeting came to a conclusion that he has no relevance in the party.
Unfortunately, he cannot return to the TDP as he will not have any value now. So, he has decided to give up on politics after committing a blunder with his decision to join the YSRCP. Had he been with the TDP, it would have been a wise decision because his daughter Kesineni Swetha would got nice future in the party and he also could have corrected his mistakes and continue his political career.