Continuing its organisational restructuring following its crushing defeat in the 2024 Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections, YSR Congress Party president and former chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy is focusing on constituencies where the party remains relatively weak.
Jagan has undertaken a comprehensive organisational overhaul, making changes to party committees and replacing coordinators in several constituencies ahead of the next Assembly elections.
According to a statement issued by the party’s central office, Jagan has appointed P V L Narasimha Raju as a member of the YSRCP Political Advisory Committee.
At the same time, he has appointed Manthena Yogindra Kumar, also known as Babu, as the new constituency coordinator for the Undi Assembly segment in West Godavari district.
The constituency is represented by Telugu Desam Party leader and Andhra Pradesh Assembly Deputy Speaker K Raghu Ramakrishna Raju.
Yogindra Kumar previously served as a director of the Andhra Pradesh Forest Development Corporation during the previous YSRCP government.
Undi has traditionally been considered a stronghold of the Telugu Desam Party. Since 1983, the TDP has won every Assembly election in the constituency except in 2004.
The YSRCP has suffered defeats in Undi in three consecutive elections — 2014, 2019 and 2024.
Narasimha Raju, who contested on behalf of the party in both 2019 and 2024, was unsuccessful on both occasions. He had also served as the constituency coordinator for the past two years.
With the latest reshuffle, the party has replaced Narasimha Raju with Yogindra Kumar while simultaneously elevating the former to the Political Advisory Committee.
Party leaders view the move as a strategic attempt to bring fresh leadership into a constituency where the TDP has maintained a dominant electoral position.
With nearly three years remaining before the next Assembly elections, the YSRCP hopes the leadership change will provide enough time to strengthen the party organisation and expand its outreach among voters in the constituency.
