Vizianagaram MLA Kolagatla Veerabhadra Swamy’s long awaited dream of becoming a minister might become a reality soon. Vellampalli Srinivas is said to be earning bad publicity for himself and the party over the recent spurt in attacks on temples. Rumours are abuzz that he might be replaced by Kolagatla Veerabhadra Swamy who belongs to the same ‘Arya Vysya’ community as Vellampalli.
According to reliable sources, Vellampalli Srinivas’s working style has attracted lot of unwanted attention which is making Jagan to think twice. If this happens, Kolagatla’s life ambition will be achieved. Before 2019 elections, Kolagatla Veerabhadra Swamy told Jagan that he is not interested in contesting elections owing his ill health, but Jagan convinced him with an assurance of minister’s post. Kolagatla recorded a decent win over Ashok Gajapathy Raju’s daughter Aditi in the elections but missed ministry due to the caste equations in deciding the cabinet. YS Jagan assured that he will accommodate him in future expansion and it seems the time has come for Kolagatla now.
Kolagatla contested for the first time in 1989 elections from Congress and was defeated by Pusapati Ashok Gajapathy Raju. Failures never left him even in 1994 and 1999 in the hands of Raju. He won in 2004 defeating Ashok Gajapathy Raju as an independent. Kolagatla lost in 2009 and 2014 at the hands of Raju and TDP candidate Meesala Geetha respectively. He contested in 2019 elections as YSRCP candidate and emerged victorious over TDP’s Aditi Gajapathy.
As of now, circumstances are favouring Kolagatla as Jagan has reportedly decided to remove Vellampalli Srinivas from the cabinet. Kolagatla Veerabhadra Swamy has seniority and experience and he would be a befitting replacement of Vellampalli. Let’s wait and see what the future holds for him.