NEW DELHI: A bunch of ruling YSRCP Ministers have launched a tirade against a fellow party MLA for allegedly cross-voting in favour of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in the recently held MLA quota MLC elections in Andhra Pradesh while the latter denied the allegations.
Home Minister Taneti Vanita, Municipal Minister Adimulapu Suresh, Deputy Chief Minister Narayana Swamy, Industries Minister Gudivada Amarnath and Tourism Minister Roja criticised Undavalli Sridevi, YSRCP MLA from Tadikonda constituency.
Sridevi was recently suspended from the party for allegedly voting in favour of the Opposition party, which led to their candidate, Panchumarthi Anuradha, winning the MLC election.
Vanita said the statements being made by Sridevi were laughable as they looked like a script written by TDP supremo Nara Chandrababu Naidu.
She reminded the embattled MLA that the ruling party accorded her a lot of respect and recognition, questioning the need for Sridevi to address a press conference in Telangana.
Likewise, Suresh rejected Sridevi’s allegations that Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s government was insulting Dalits and claimed that the YSRCP regime has embraced Dalit people.
Similarly, Roja asserted that the four suspended YSRCP MLAs, Sridevi, Anam Ramnarayan Reddy, Mekapati Chandrasekhar Reddy and Kotamreddy Sridhar Reddy, who voted against the party’s whip will lose their political future.
Further, Narayana Swamy pointed out that people who won with Reddy’s support and have backstabbed him will remain as rogues in history.
Moreover, Amaranth noted that he always had a doubt on Sridevi’s leanings from the beginning. According to the Industries Minister, Sridevi posed for a picture before the voting with the CM, flanked by her daughter but is now using the Dalit card after being exposed.
Meanwhile, Sridevi, along with her husband, Kammela Sridhar, and daughter have addressed several press conferences rejecting these allegations.
She denied receiving any kickbacks for cross-voting, questioning if anybody would offer crores of rupees for voting in an MLC election.
”I am a gynaecologist. My husband is an urologist and a robotic surgeon. We have practice (medical) in Hyderabad since a long time. We have two hospitals,” said Sridevi on Sunday, reasoning that they lack nothing.
This controversy involving Sridevi has been going on for a few days, from the moment it was known that the ruling party lost an MLC seat to Anuradha while more is expected on Tuesday.
Sajjala Ramakrishna, adviser to AP Government (Political) recently said that an internal investigation uncovered cross-voting, leading to action against the four MLAs.
He said money was believed to have been exchanged, alleging that Naidu had offered Rs 15 crore to Rs 20 crore to each MLA.
He also said the opposition party might even have offered tickets to those who cross-voted.
Source: Press Trust of India
