In a surprising move, the Speaker of the Andhra Pradesh Assembly, Thammineni Sitaram, has accepted the resignation of Ganta Srinivasa Rao, a MLA from TDP Visakhapatnam North. This decision was made on Tuesday, almost three years after Ganta Srinivasa Rao initially submitted his resignation on February 12, 2021.
Ganta had resigned in protest against the government’s plan to privatize the Vizag steel plant. Despite requesting the Speaker personally, no action was taken on his resignation.
Speculation suggests that the acceptance of Ganta’s resignation now may be related to the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls. The terms of three YSRCP members will end in April, and the YSRCP wants to ensure their victory. Although the TDP does not have enough MLAs to secure a win for their candidate, the YSRCP is being cautious due to past incidents of cross-voting during MLC elections in their term. This move could weaken the TDP’s chances of ensuring their nominee’s victory.
Interestingly, the Speaker has not yet approved the resignation of Alla Ramakrishna Reddy, who recently left the YSRCP as Mangalagiri MLA.
In the meantime, it has been reported that Ganta will be contesting from Nellimarla in the upcoming Assembly elections.
