Visakhapatnam, April 16: YSRCP leaders – former Minister Gudivada Amarnath, former MLA Karanam Dharmasri, and Visakhapatnam Mayor Golagani Hari Venkata Kumari – strongly condemned the conspiracies being hatched by the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) to unlawfully capture the Mayor’s seat in Visakhapatnam through undemocratic means.
Addressing the media at the YSRCP Visakhapatnam City Office, the leaders stated that despite lacking the required majority in the Corporation, the TDP has issued a notice for a no-confidence motion against the Mayor, exposing their political opportunism.
The YSRCP announced that it will boycott the no-confidence motion and has issued a whip to all 58 corporators elected on the party’s symbol. Legal action will be taken against anyone who violates the whip. The leaders stated that the TDP is unable to digest the fact that a woman from the Yadava community is holding the prestigious Mayor position. They questioned whether this was the respect the TDP claims to have for the Backward Classes (BCs), calling it blatant political discrimination.
Former Minister Gudivada Amarnath stated that the TDP and its alliance partners have been engaging in manipulative politics for the past month, trying to destabilize the Mayor’s leadership. He said corporators elected on the YSRCP symbol are being lured, threatened, and their families are being intimidated to defect. He compared the situation to the infamous 1995 Viceroy Hotel betrayal by Chandrababu Naidu and warned that such unethical moves will not be tolerated. The party has firmly decided that Mayor Hari Venkata Kumari will continue her term for the remaining 11 months. The party corporators have been instructed not to attend the no-confidence motion scheduled for 19 April. He urged the public to recognize these attempts by the TDP-led government to usurp power through coercion and manipulation.
Mayor Hari Venkata Kumari expressed anguish over the relentless targeting of a BC woman by the TDP-JSP-BJP alliance. She recalled how she was given the opportunity to serve as Mayor by YS Jagan Mohan Reddy in a general category seat as part of his commitment to promoting BC women in politics. She noted that of the 22 Yadava community candidates fielded by YSRCP, 13 won, and a similar number from the Kapu community also emerged victorious. Despite contributing significantly to the city’s development without bias over the past four years, she is now being targeted in an unfair manner. She appealed to TDP State President Palla Srinivas and Jana Sena MLA Vamsikrishna Srinivas—both from the Yadava community—to reconsider their stance. She presented video evidence of Vamsikrishna’s previous remarks expressing discontent over not securing the Mayor post while in YSRCP, indicating personal vendetta behind the motion.
Former MLA Karunam Dharmasri reiterated that the current alliance government is conspiring to unseat a BC woman who was given a rare political opportunity. He alleged that TDP is attempting to siphon Corporation funds through their loyalists and wants to remove the Mayor to facilitate this. However, YSRCP corporators will bravely face these undemocratic tactics. He urged the Election Commission to take immediate action against any corporators violating the whip and warned that officials acting as agents of the ruling alliance will be held accountable in court. He demanded that the no-confidence motion, if conducted, must follow due democratic procedures.
Capital corruption @ Amaravati
