YSRCP floor leader Reddy resigns from Rajya Sabha

YSRCP floor leader in the Rajya Sabha and party’s national general secretary V Vijayasai Reddy (67) on Saturday resigned from Parliament.

“Today, I submitted my resignation to the Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar, the Rajya Sabha Chairman. He is pleased to accept it with immediate effect,” Reddy wrote on X.

The resignation follows the announcement made by Reddy on Friday saying he had decided to retire from politics and turn his focus to agriculture. A chartered accountant by training, Vijayasai is a co-accused (A2 or second accused) in the Central Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement Directorate’s disproportionate assets cases against YSRCP chairman and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy, the ‘A1’ in the quid pro quo matter. Like Jagan, he was also in prison in 2012-13 in those cases.

While Vijayasai and Jagan thus go back a long way, Reddy has resigned from the Rajya Sabha at a time when Jagan is abroad with his family. After the 2024 elections, the YSRCP’s strength fell from 151 to 11 MLAs, and from 22 to four Lok Sabha MPs. However, all 11 Rajya Sabha seats from Andhra Pradesh were with the YSRCP. That was until the defections began.

Meanwhile, the YSRCP said the party did not approve the resignation of Reddy, but respected his choice. “Even though we do not approve of your decision, we still respect your choice. You have been one of the pillars of strength for our party since its inception, standing with us through both tough times and triumphs,” said the YSRCP in a post on X.