Andhra Pradesh’s ruling Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) suspended Chittoor MLA Arani Srinivasulu after he met Jana Sena party leader and actor Pawan Kalyan on Sunday.
According to a statement from the ruling party’s central office, Srinivasulu has been suspended from the party on the orders of Chief Minister and party President Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.
The action came hours after the MLA met Pawan Kalyan in Hyderabad.
Srinivasulu was unhappy with the YSRCP leadership ever since it appointed Vijayanand Reddy as the Chittoor constituency in-charge, and had reportedly decided to leave the party.
The Chittoor MLA is likely to join Jana Sena soon. He is said to be an aspirant for Jana Sena ticket from Tirupati constituency. Jana Sena has entered into an electoral alliance with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) for the forthcoming Andhra polls.
The TDP has left 24 out of 175 Assembly seats and three out of 25 Lok Sabha seats for Jana Sena.
Pawan Kalyan announced the first list of five candidates of his party on February 24. Simultaneous elections to the state Assembly and Lok Sabha are slated to be held in April-May.