Ex-Cop, TDP turncoat battle it out in Guntur West

Guntur West assembly constituency has become a battleground for two politicians, both from the same party. Both wear the same stole and share the same party symbol, but are engaged in a bitter fight against one another. The battle has become such a headache for the party workers that they do not know who to side with. Till now, the party leadership’s attempts to iron out the differences between them have proved to be complete failures.

In the 2019 elections, the YSRCP lost to the TDP. YSRCP candidate and former top cop Yesuratnam lost to TDP’s Maddali Giribabu. But, after the election results were out and the YSRCP came to power, Giribabu resigned from the TDP and joined the YSRCP. Since then, Yesuratnam and Giribabu have been at loggerheads with one another. Meanwhile, Yesuratnam had filed a petition in the court seeking cancellation of Giribabu’s election.

Yesuratnam contended that there were discrepancies in the election affidavit and the IT returns. He sought the squashing of Giribabu’s election. Though both are in the same party, the differences continue to persist and the case is still on. Despite the best efforts of the party leadership, the two leaders continue to fight each other. Biggest sufferers in the whole episode are the ordinary party workers. If they are seen with Yesuratnam, Giribabu would not take it kindly. If they are in Giribabu’s camp, reprisals would begin from the Yesuratnam group. This has turned out to be a huge issue for the party workers.

Yesuratnam is confident that he would win the case and unseat Giribabu, while Giribabu is hoping that the case would be struck off. Meanwhile, the party has ended up the worst sufferer in the whole episode.