Tiruvuru MLA Kolikapudi Srinivasa Rao has turned to be an embarrassment very frequently to the TDP leadership with his unexpected and irresponsible attitude in haste. He came to fame with his active participation in Amaravati ryots agitation during YCP regime and as gratitude to the farmer’s intense stir for the capital Amaravati TDP has given him Tiruvuru seat, ignoring party leaders.
However, since electing to the Assembly he has been acting on his own without caring for the local party cadre or the leadership. While the excise minister and the chief minister were boasting that there were no belt shops anywhere in the state, the ruling party MLA ran on the roads, inspected belt shops and seized liquor being sold illegally, creating a stir.
There are various arguments as to why the MLA did this, but TDP leaders are criticizing the MLA’s behavior. Kolikapudi became the target of controversy within six months of coming to power.
Within a month of being elected as MLA, in July this year, in Kambhampadu, A. Kondur mandal, he went to the building of a local YSRCP leader’s building with a JCB, alleging that he was encroaching on the panchayat land and constructing a building. Even though the authorities said that they would take action as per the rules, he did not listen to him and made him sit there.
As this incident became a sensation, TDP President Chandrababu Naidu summoned him to Undavalli and reprimanded. Later, wife of a local TDP leader attempted suicide after the MLA threatened him to strip in front of everyone on the pretext of organizing poker camps. This caused a stir when his faction leaders staged a protest in front of the hospital in Vijayawada.
When news of soil removal in Tiruvuru came in the media, they made inappropriate comments towards them. As a result, local leaders complained to TDP leaders about the MLA. As a result, another in-charge was appointed for the constituency while the ruling party MLA was still there.
When other leaders in the party intervened and said they would calm down, he publicly announced that he would change his ways. Again on Tuesday, Kolikapudi ran through the streets and created a ruckus at liquor shops. He went to liquor shops in the morning and locked the shops, saying that they were running belt shops.
He expressed his anger that he would not be quiet if the shop locks were removed. He demanded that the shops in Tiruvuru town be placed on the outskirts of the town and that he himself would remove the belt shops if they were not removed.
Of the 16 liquor shops in the Thiruvur constituency, 4 are in Tiruvuru town, 2 in rural, 4 in Gampalagudem, 2 in A. Kondur, and 4 in Vissannapeta. The managers are getting angry over the MLA’s interference in the liquor business and closing the shops. They are planning to file a complaint with the government over the harassment of MLA. On the other hand, the TDP high command is also conducting an inquiry into the MLA’s behavior.
