Every now and then, the social media activists of YSR Congress party plant reports on social media stating that leaders who had earlier quit the YSRCP and defected to the Telugu Desam Party and its alliance partners – Jana Sena Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party are repenting for their decision.
They spread rumours that these leaders are now desperate to come back to the YSRCP and are sending feelers to party president Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, stating that they want to return to the party.
For instance, these pro-YSRCP social media activists claimed that seniors like V Vijay Sai Reddy, Balineni Srinivas Reddy, Mopidevi Venkata Ramana, Samineni Udaya Bhanu and Alla Nani have expressed their interest in returning to the YSRCP and sent messages to Jagan.
The latest rumour is that even present Telugu Desam Party’s Lok Sabha member from Ongole Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy is interested in coming back to the YSRCP and he is in talks with the party leaders.
But what these social media activists have not realised is that there is no mechanism in the YSRCP to bring back the deserted leaders back into the party.
None of these leaders has any access to Jagan directly and there is no second-rung leadership who has the power to negotiate with them and welcoming them into the party.
“At least in the past, there was Vijay Sai Reddy, who was more or less like No. 2 in the party and had the power to talk to any leader who want to join the party. He had the direct access to Jagan and could convince him in taking or rejecting any leader,” a party source said.
Now, there is no such mechanism. There are leaders like party state coordinator Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy, who doesn’t have power to negotiate with any leader nor has he guts to convince Jagan on bringing back the defected leaders.
“In fact, Sajjala himself doesn’t want any heavy weights returning to the YSRCP, as he feels insecure about his position and power, if they rejoin the party. He doesn’t want anybody meet Jagan directly and has virtually built a wall between Jagan and the party leaders,” the party source said.
So, even if some leaders want to come back to the YSRCP, they cannot at least for now, as there is no such mechanism in the party to welcome the defected leaders back, he added.