Chiranjeeevi Joins YSRCP, Shocks Lokesh & Alla!

In a big setback to the Telugu Desam, the party’s leader Ganji Chiranjeevi has joined the YSR Congress party in the presence of chief YS Jagan. Chiranjeevi hails from Mangalagiri and in 2014, he lost to YCP’s Alla Ramakrishna Reddy by just 12 votes. In 2019, Chiranjeevi sacrificed his seat to TDP’s Nara Lokesh.

But things weren’t going smoothly for Chiranjeevi in TDP and last month he openly criticised the TDP leadership for not giving him appropriate importance. Upset with these happenings, Chiranjeevi quit TDP and joined Jagan’s party.

After joining YCP, Chiranjeevi announced that he would be contesting the 2024 elections from Mangalagiri. This is surprising because sitting MLA Alla Ramakrishna Reddy belongs to the ruling party and he is expecting retention for the third time.

“I lost in 2014 with just 12 votes but Lokesh lost with a margin of 5312 votes. I’m confident that I will contest in 2024 and will repeat what happened in 2019. YCP will win in Mangalagiri,” said Chiranjeevi.

Certainly this is a blow for the TDP but it is going to be a headache for Jagan because he has to pick one between sitting MLA Alla Ramakrishna Reddy and Chiranjeevi. That will be tough and if current MLA Alla is snubbed, things may go the other way for the YCP in Mangalagiri.