It appears the YSR Congress party leaders who are facing charges of indulging in various scams and cases are finding their way into the Jana Sena Party in order to escape prosecution by the police.
In a latest incident, prominent Padmashali leader and former Mangalagiri municipal chairman Ganji Chiranjeevi is learnt to have decided to quit the YSRCP and take shelter in the Jana Sena Party headed by deputy chief minister Pawan Kalyan. He, along with his wife, are expected to join Jana Sena shortly.
Reason: It was only in October that the Vigilance and Enforcement Department conducted a probe into the allegations against Chiranjeevi that he had forcibly collected bribes from beneficiaries during the allocation of TIDCO houses in Mangalagiri, Guntur district.
The investigation revealed that he misused his official position for corrupt activities and recommended that the state government file a case against him and pursue legal action.
The investigation found that under Chiranjeevi’s influence, Mangalagiri municipal officials allocated houses to ineligible people while depriving eligible beneficiaries.
“Many beneficiaries revealed that Ganja Chiranjeevi had forcibly taken money from them. Those who didn’t receive houses were not refunded, pushing their families into financial crises,” the vigilance report said.
The Vigilance Department recommended recovering Rs 10.19 crore from those responsible and taking disciplinary action against the officials involved.
Apparently realising that he might be under soup soon, Chiranjeevi decided to take a plunge into the Jana Sena Party, as he had no chance of coming into the TDP, to get out of the cases.
Chiranjeevi was originally in the TDP, but in 2022, he quit the party and joined the ruling YSRCP. He became close to YSRCP general secretary Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy and expected that he would get the YSRCP ticket in 2024 elections.
But Jagan denied him the party ticket, which was given to Murugudu Lavanya, who lost to Nara Lokesh by a margin of more than 90,000 votes. This has closed the chances of Chiranjeevi in the YSRCP.
Since he cannot come back into the TDP, as he made serious allegations against Lokesh, Chiranjeevi is now looking up to the Jana Sena, sources said.