Former Andhra Pradesh minister Avanthi Srinivas quits YSR Congress

Posted on by Vividh Bharathi

Visakhapatnam, Dec 12 (IANS) Former Andhra Pradesh minister Avanthi Srinivas resigned on Thursday from the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP).

Srinivas announced his resignation both as YSRCP in-charge for the Bheemili Assembly constituency and from the primary membership of the party at a press conference here.

He sent his resignation letter to the YSRCP president and former chief minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and the party’s North Andhra coordinator Vijayasai Reddy, mentioning that he would like to distance himself from politics for personal reasons.

Avanthi Srinivas criticised Jagan Mohan Reddy and advised him to honour the people’s mandate.

The former minister found fault with the YSRCP chief’s decision to stage protests over various issues.

He said people have given the mandate to the Telugu Desam Party-led coalition for five years and it was not proper to call ‘dharna’ without giving even five months to the coalition government.

Srinivas also slammed the YSRCP leadership for “ignoring” the party workers. Alleging that there is no internal democracy in the YSRCP, he said party workers “suffered” for the last five years.

He said Jagan Mohan Reddy used to give orders by sitting in Tadepalli but party workers suffered on the ground.

Srinivas, whose real name is Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao, was elected to the Assembly from the Bheemili constituency on a YSRCP ticket in 2019. He was minister for tourism, culture and youth advancement in the YSRCP government from 2019 to 2022.

He, however, suffered defeat from the same constituency in the elections held in May this year.

Avanthi Srinivas was elected to Lok Sabha from Anakapalli on a TDP ticket in 2014. He later joined YSRCP.

Several leaders, including three Rajya Sabha members, have quit the YSRCP since it lost power to the TDP-led NDA in May.

TDP-Jana Sena-BJP alliance stormed to power with a landslide victory in the May 13 elections. The alliance bagged 164 out of 175 Assembly seats and 21 out of 25 Lok Sabha seats.

The YSRCP, which had come to power in 2019 by winning 151 Assembly seats, could win only 11 seats. The party managed to win only four out of 25 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

–IANS

ms/svn

Related Posts

False and misleading: Sisodia questions claim of LG’s sanction against Kejriwal

New Delhi, Dec 21 (IANS) Former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister, Manish Sisodia has strongly refuted reports claiming that Lieutenant Governor (LG) VK Saxena has sanctioned the prosecution of AAP National Convener and former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in connection with the alleged liquor policy scam.

In a post on X on Saturday, Sisodia wrote, “If LG Saxena has given permission to prosecute Arvind Kejriwal, then why is the ED not showing the copy of that permission? It is clear that this news is false and misleading. Stop making empty claims to divert attention from the issue of insult to Babasaheb Ambedkar. Show where the sanction to prosecute is.”

Earlier, sources reported that LG Saxena had approved the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) request to prosecute Kejriwal under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with the liquor policy case.

The alleged liquor policy scam is one of the biggest allegations levelled by Opposition BJP against the Kejriwal-led AAP government.

While a PMLA case is already filed against Kejriwal, the trial is yet to begin. Following a Supreme Court directive mandating the LG’s approval for prosecuting public officials in such cases, the ED reportedly sought permission through the Chief Secretary.

In March, the ED arrested Kejriwal over alleged money laundering related to the scam. He was released on bail in September after months in custody. Following his release, Kejriwal resigned as Chief Minister of Delhi and vowed to return to office only after winning the 2025 Assembly elections.

Sisodia, who has also faced legal troubles in the liquor policy case, was granted bail in August after 18 months of imprisonment. The court cited his right to a speedy trial in its decision.

The ED had alleged that Kejriwal and Sisodia made changes in the Excise Policy 2021-22 to help a ‘South lobby’ in return for a bribe of Rs 100 crore. Out of this, the AAP used Rs 45 crore for campaigning in Goa elections, the ED sources claimed.

Kejriwal meanwhile has appealed to the Delhi High Court to cancel the charge sheet, following which a notice was issued to the ED on Friday.

–IANS

skp/rad

GST scam: Gujarat court sends journalist Mahesh Langa to 4-day police remand

New Delhi, Dec 21 (IANS) Journalist Mahesh Langa was on Saturday sent to police custody for four days by a Gujarat court in Rajkot in connection with a Rs 60-lakh GST scam involving a company named Parmar Enterprises.

Earlier on Friday, the Rajkot Economic Offences Wing brought Langa to the city on transit remand from Sabarmati jail. Langa was lodged in jail in connection with fake GST billing cases.

During the court hearing on Saturday, the police sought Langa’s custody for 14 days but the judge granted them only four days’ remand.

The EoW felt the need to grill Langa after questioning five accused arrested as part of the investigation into an earlier fake billing case.

During the questioning of the five accused, the name of a company linked to Langa had come to light, according to the police.

A few days ago, Rajkot Police raided 14 places simultaneously, in which action was taken in Bhavnagar, Jamnagar, Ahmedabad, Veraval, Kadi, Mahesana, Gandhinagar, Shapar, Rajkot and five people were arrested.

The EoW’s investigation revealed that the GST scam was executed using a company named “Parmar Enterprises”, which facilitated several fraudulent activities linked to GST. It was created using a fake rental agreement to obtain a GST number.

Using this fake company, several other companies participated in the GST fraud. The companies involved in this criminal activity include Yash Developers, Ikara Enterprises, Civil Plus Engineering, Dhanshree Metal, DA Enterprises, Aryan Associates, Jyoti Infrastructure, Arham Steel, Riddhi Infrastructure, Ashapura Trading, Shiv Milan Plastics, Globetra Impex, Maa Durga Steel, Maruti Nandan Construction, and Lakhubha Nanbha.

These companies engaged in fraudulent billing, forgery, the use of fake documents, and false declarations, leading to millions of rupees in GST fraud through the use of bogus invoices.

Parmar Enterprises was involved in GST fraud in cities such as Mehsana, Junagadh, Gandhinagar, Rajkot, Gir Somnath, and Jamnagar in Gujarat.

Another company ‘DA Enterprises’ was involved in the majority of the undisclosed transactions in the scam. This is the same company linked to Langa, who has been implicated in several GST fraud cases.

–IANS

rch/uk

‘Swarnim Bharat: Virasat aur Vikas’ theme for 2025 Republic Day Parade tableau

New Delhi, Dec 23 (IANS) For the 2025 Republic Day celebrations in the national capital, the theme for tableaux has been decided as ‘Swarnim Bharat: Virasat aur Vikas’, a Defence Ministry official said.

As part of the Republic Day celebrations, every year states, union territories (UTs) and Central government ministries and departments showcase their tableaux on the Kartavya Path.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said in a statement that the 15 states/ UTs such as Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal have been selected for showcasing their tableaux on the Kartavya Path for 2025 Republic Day celebration.

In addition, 11 Ministries/Departments of the Central government have also been selected for the 2025 Republic Day celebrations.

All the states/UTs, irrespective of their selection for Kartavya Path, are invited to display their tableaux during Bharat Parv in Red Fort (January 26-31).

The entire selection process is robust, fair, transparent, based on merit and free from any bias.

The selected tableaux would showcase India’s diverse strengths and its constantly evolving cultural inclusiveness marching into a glorious future, showcasing ‘Swarnim Bharat — Virasat aur Vikas’ to the world audience, the official added.

According to the MoD, since the beginning of this year, a consultative process has been adopted by the Ministry to decide on various aspects related to the tableaux.

A senior official-level meeting was held in April 2024 to deliberate on the improvement of tableaux quality.

Various suggestions received during the meeting have been included in the process.

The theme for tableaux was also decided based on suggestions from the state and UTs.

There is a well-established system for selection of tableaux for participation in the Republic Day Parade as per which MoD invites proposals for tableaux from all states/UTs and Central ministries/departments.

The tableaux proposals received from various state/UTs and Central ministries/departments are evaluated in a series of meetings of the expert committee, comprising eminent persons in the field of art, culture, painting, sculpture, music, architecture, choreography etc.

The MoD said that tableaux are one of the important components of the Republic Day Parade.

Due to the time allotted for tableaux in the overall duration of the parade, the shortlisting of tableaux is done by the Expert Committee.

While evaluating the tableaux ideas presented by various states/UTs and ministries, key aspects like conceptual uniqueness and novelty, creative expression with a clear, communicable message, combining subtlety as well as directness, striking balance between Virasat and Vikas in each tableau, exclusion of repetitive ideas, special attention to details like colours, forms, textures, flow, rhythm, proportions and balance, ensuring a well-composed aesthetic experience of grand scale were taken into consideration for the selection.

–IANS

gcb/khz