Galla Aruna Kumari resigned from TDP politburo. She sent her resignation letter to party chief Nara Chandrababu Naidu citing personal reasons for the decision. Aruna Kumari earlier worked as a minister twice during the Congress regime. She joined TDP before the 2014 elections and contested unsuccessfully as the party candidate in Chandragari Assembly constituency. Her son Galla Jayadev won the Guntur MP seat both in 2014 and 2019. Naidu had taken her into politburo in 2018, but did not give her the ticket in 2019.
The real reason
Aruna Kumari’s father P Rajagopala Naidu was the mentor for Chandrababu Naidu in politics. Naidu was his follower since he was student leader and knows Aruna Kumari since that time. However, sources said Aruna is miffed over party making appointments to parliamentary constituency committees without even consulting her in the district. Her own Assembly constituency Chandragiri falls under Chittoor parliamentary constituency. Pulivarthi Nani has been appointed as president of Chittoor parliamentary constituency committee. Reportedly irked by this decision, she quit.
What happened in the past?
Defeated in 2014, Aruna expected a ticket again in 2019. When Naidu summoned her and asked about contesting the polls, she informed him that she was not interested. She ardently hoped Naidu would insist that she contest the poll since she was under the impression that the party had no better leader than her in the constituency.
At that time, Pulivarthi Nani, a staunch follower of the then minister N Amaranath Reddy, was lobbying hard for the ticket. It is said that Naidu offered her the ticket in the presence of Amaranath Reddy, but she rejected it. Naidu immediately decided to go for another candidate, dashing her hopes that he would plead with her to contest.
Disappointed over Naidu opting another candidate without even giving her a second chance, Aruna dashed off to the US before the elections. To her dismay, Pulivarthi Nani’s name surfaced even before her US trip. She expected that party chief would again approach her for the Chandragiri ticket after her return from the US. It did not happen. Another name made rounds, but not hers. Finally, Nani was fielded from Chandragiri. Sulking over the party ignoring her, Aruna Kumari did not actively work for Nani’s victory. He lost to YSRCP’s Chevireddy Bhaskar Reddy by a margin of 40,000 votes.
Now Pulivarthi Nani has been appointed as Chittoor parliamentary constituency committee president. This means there will be no chance for her to contest in the next elections too. Aruna, who is furious at Nani, is said to have resigned from the party in protest.
Her son Jayadev continues to play an important role as MP in TDP. Let us see what turn politics will take for the family in the coming days.
