The squabbles in the ruling YSR Congress in Nellore district have finally reached Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy’s camp office in Tadepalli. The chief minister had summoned both former minister P Anil Kumar Yadav and his uncle and local corporator P Rup Kumar Yadav on Monday to his office.

The uncle and the son have been at loggerheads for the past some time. The two leaders have also made open criticism of each other causing much embarrassment to the party leadership and the local activists. They don’t see eye to eye and have been openly fighting against each other.

This is the second time that Jagan Mohan Reddy had asked both the leaders to keep the differences aside and work together for the party. He warned both the leaders of serious action if they fought openly, bringing down the image of the party in the public.

The ruling party in Nellore district is already facing problems with three MLAs openly expressing dissent. Kotamreddy Sridhar Reddy, Anam Ramanarayana Reddy and Mekapati Chandrasekhar Reddy were expelled from the party after the recent MLC elections. They have been vocal in criticising the party leadership, leading to their suspension.

Now, the former minister and his uncle are fighting in the public, further lowering the party’s image in the district. Jagan Mohan Reddy held separate meetings with the two leaders at his camp office. He is reportedly taking information from both of them and trying to settle the dispute.

Jagan Mohan Reddy had asked the two leaders to limit their presence to their respective areas and not to make any attempt to overpower the other. The chief minister had also reportedly asked the two leaders not to rush to the media and criticise each other.

The chief minister is understood to have given them final warning and even told them that he would not hesitate to suspend them from the party if they repeat the open criticism of each other. It is to be seen how far the two leaders would remain silent and work for the party.

Internal squabbles in the ruling YSR Congress in Nellore district have come to the fore once again on Saturday. Former minister and Nellore urban sitting MLA, P Anil Kumar Yadav, is facing stiff opposition from his own uncle and Nellore Municipal Corporation deputy mayor Rupa Kumar Yadav.

Both Anil Kumar and Rupa Kumar have locked horns months ago and their fight is open and is known to everyone, including party chief Jagan Mohan Reddy. The chief minister himself had intervened and tried unsuccessfully to bring the warring groups together. He tried to cement the relationship between the two leaders in vain.

The difference between the sitting MLA Anil Kumar and the deputy mayor came to the flash point on Friday with some unidentified persons attacking a supporter of the deputy mayor. The deputy mayor visited the injured party activist in the government general hospital and consoled the family.

Later, he alleged that the attack was the handiwork of sitting MLA Anil Kumar. He further alleged that Anil Kumar’s men have attacked his supporter and injured him. “If I start retaliation, no one will be able to take it,” the angry deputy mayor told the media.

He said that the sitting MLA was behind the attack and warned the MLA and his supporters of a fitting reply. “Stop this nonsense or else, I will start giving you back,” the deputy mayor said, giving a tough warning to his nephew and former minister Anil Kumar Yadav.

It is to be seen how the party would handle this situation in Nellore and elsewhere in the state. There are at least 20 MLAs who are facing such dissent from their own party leaders across the state.

Less than a week after four MLAs were suspended from the party by the YSR Congress leadership, former minister and MLA P Anil Kumar said that he would quit active politics if any of the three suspended MLAs from Nellore district won the next election.

Speaking to media persons, Anil Kumar said that the MLAs have voted for the TDP and it is known to their conscience. He contested the statements of Mekapati Chandrasekhar Reddy and Anam Ramanarayana Reddy that they did not vote against the party, the former minister said that they should ask their conscience and speak the truth.

The former minister said that the party leadership had a secret code to identify cross voting by the MLAs. The party leadership checks voting patterns by the party MLAs and it has been there for years in every MLC or Rajya Sabha elections, he asserted.

He further said that he would leave Nellore district even if one of the three suspended MLAs get elected to the Assembly in the 2024 general election. He dared the three MLAs to win the general election. He said that none of the three MLAs would get any party ticket too!

When asked about his future, Anil Kumar said that he would stay with Jagan Mohan Reddy for the rest of his political career. He said he would contest if the party gave him a ticket or would support whoever is given the ticket.

The former minister said that every MLA now had won the election with the photo of Jagan Mohan Reddy. Even in the next election too, the MLAs would win only if they have Jagan Mohan Reddy’s photo.

Andhra Pradesh irrigation minister Anil Kumar Yadav is also the incharge minister for Kurnool district. YSRCP chief and Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy has appointed Anil as incharge minister for Kurnool to set right the things for party and government in the district.

Incidentally, Jagan replaced senior minister Botsa Satyanarayana who was incharge minister for Kurnool district with a junior minister Anil. Such was the confidence of Jagan on Anil.

But Anil’s entry into Kurnool district created more problems for YSRCP than doing good, feel district party leaders and cadres. This is because he is accused of encouraging group politics in Kurnool instead of strengthening the party and government.

Anil is totally neglecting development of Kurnool district. He hardly visits district to monitor development programmes. It was more than one year since Anil came to Kurnool.

He is not even attending DRC meetings to review development programmes in district. As this is not enough, he is damaging YSRCP politically in Kurnool by creating rift between rival groups in party.

Kurnool YSRCP leaders and cadres reportedly demanding Jagan to remove Anil from the district incharge minister post to save party in the district.

Fearing that Jagan may initiate action against him, Anil has decided to tour Kurnool district for two days soon.

The absence of irrigation minister Anil Kumar Yadav at the programme organised to lift the gates of Somasila reservoir has now become a hot topic in the political circles in general and in Nellore district in particular. Normally, the irrigation minister would be the chief guest when project gates are lifted. Moreover, Anil Kumar Yadav is from Nellore and Somasila reservoir is in the same district.

Interestingly, no one talked about why the irrigation minister was not present at the programme. Minister Mekapati Goutham Reddy or other MLAs, who were present at the event, too were tight-lipped about the incident. As a result, the minister’s absence became a hot topic for discussion.

It later emerged that Anil Kumar Yadav was unwell and was hospitalised in Hyderabad. After getting discharged from the hospital, he is said to be recuperating in the hospital. But the biggest issue here is why there was no official information about the minister’s ill health. Also, why is this secrecy about a minister’s health condition? This secrecy has led to the rumour mills going into tizzy about Anil Kumar Yadav.

It is well-known in Nellore district that Anil Kumar Yadav has a running feud with the Anam family. Anam Ramanarayana Reddy has in fact threatened to undertake a padayatra in the Nellore urban constituency against Anil Kumar Yadav. The differences have further deepened after Anam Ramanarayana Reddy’s father Venkat Reddy’s statue was removed during the flyover construction in the city. Recently Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy had to hold a meeting in Nellore to iron out the differences among the party leaders. Sources say, several other MLAs too have ganged up against Anil Kumar Yadav. Sources say Anil Kumar Yadav may have decided against going to Nellore to prevent an uncomfortable situation. As of now, all the groups are staying tight-lipped on the issue.

Heard of the film “A…Aaa…” ? It’s a Trivikram potboiler that tells the story of love between a boy and girl. It was a hit movie with several punch dialogues and funny one-liners. In Nellore, another “A…Aaaa” is being enacted in Nellore’s YSRCP. The only difference is that instead of love, this drama is all about politics, one-upmanship and rivalry.

In the film, it’s about Aravinda and Ananda Vihari. In Nellore, it’s all about minister Anil Kumar Yadav and his one-time political guru and current arch-rival Aanam Ramanarayan Reddy. Though the YSRCP did a cleansweep in the district by winning all the ten assembly seats and three MP seats, the internecine squabble seems to be weakening the party. Despite the best efforts of the likes of Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy, the battle of one-upmanship between Anil and Anam is going on unabated.

In the 2019 elections, Anam was sent to Venkatagiri assembly constituency and Anil was asked to fight from Nellore urban. Later, Anil became a minister, while Anam, who was once the finance minister of undivided AP, remained a mere MLA. Anil was once a protégé of Anam and owed his political career to the Anam family. But today, the roles are reversed. In the recent flyover works, Anil got the statue of Anam Venkat Reddy, Ramanaraana’s dad, removed without even bothering to inform Anam. Since then, Anam is not invited Anil to any of the programme in Venkatagiri. Not just that. He is ensuring that Anam’s name does not figure in any of the inaugural plaque. Now, Anam is threatening to take out a house-to-house campaign in Nellore city against Anil.

Meanwhile, another senior politician and MP Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy was booked in a gravel mining case. It later came to light that Anil was behind these cases. Now both Anam and Magunta are trying to make a common cause against Anil Yadav. The political circles are now watching this political potboiler with a lot of interest. But, for the ruling YSRCP, this has turned out to be source of a never-ending headache.

Is Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy dropping hints about who would be dropped from the cabinet in the latest reshuffle? On Tuesday, Irrigation Minister Anil Kumar Yadav kept a distance from YS Jagan throughout the latter’s tour of Polavaram project area. Though Anil Kumar Yadav was very much present on the occasion, his was very low key. He was silent all through the review meeting held after the visit to Polavaram.

Normally, the Irrigation Minister stays next to the CM during such meetings. But, Anil Kumar Yadav was several paces behind the CM. The other ministers were close to the CM. Anil was way too behind. Also, when the CM undertook the aerial survey of the project area, only officials boarded the chopper along with the CM. Anil Kumar did not board the chopper. The same scene was repeated even during the review meeting with the irrigation officials.

Normally, minister Anil Yadav is considered an ultra defender of YS Jagan. He springs to Jagan’s defence on any subject or issue. He calls himself the Bhakt of YS Jagan. But, it seems Jagan is not happy with the way the irrigation department was functioning. He is said to be unhappy with the way the progress of Polavaram project was slow-paced. He is said to be unhappy over AP irrigation department, which has failed to defend the AP’s interests on the Krishna water issue.

However, Anil Yadav’s close camp followers refute these. They say that his ministry would be safe and he has worked very hard in his department and has defended YS Jagan to hilt on any issue. But, analysts say that even Anil’s body language during the Polavaram visit showed that all was not well. Let’s wait and see how things unfold in the days to come.