Former YSRCP MP Vijayasai Reddy launches new party in Andhra Pradesh

Former YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) MP V Vijayasai Reddy has returned to politics, launching the Parivarthana Rajaneethi Party (PRP) on Wednesday, November 11 at the A Convention Centre in Vijayawada. He said the party would challenge the dominance of two political families in Andhra Pradesh and create opportunities for younger leaders.Unveiling its white and saffron flag, featuring a Dharma Chakra at the centre, Vijayasai said the organisation would offer an alternative to the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Opposition YSRCP.Addressing the gathering, he said political leadership in the state should not remain confined to two families. He questioned why the Chief Minister, ministers and MLAs should come only from these families, referring to Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and YSRCP president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. He said people should have the freedom to question all political leaders, including himself, over wrongdoing.Vijayasai said the party would focus on identifying and nurturing young leaders rather than creating another individual political figure. He said he wanted a capable young person to become Chief Minister, regardless of caste or family background. Leadership, he argued, should be earned through public support and merit rather than inherited.Referring to Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray and Bahujan Samaj Party founder Kanshi Ram, he said he intended to play the role of a margadarshi, or mentor, while younger leaders took on political and organisational responsibilities. He said the party would work towards building grassroots leadership and giving representation to different caste and social groups.He also said the PRP would prioritise the welfare of weaker sections and focus on agricultural development, employment for young people, affordable education and improving living standards for poor and middle-class families. He described the party as a platform for Gen Z leadership and said it would contest all 175 Assembly constituencies in Andhra Pradesh.Vijayasai said the party's doors would remain open to those willing to join its political journey. He also announced that he would raise with Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy the removal of 26 castes from the Backward Classes list in Telangana.The launch marks a return to active politics for Vijayasai, who resigned from the Rajya Sabha and announced his retirement from politics in January 2025. He had also quit the YSRCP after the party's defeat in the 2024 Assembly and Lok Sabha elections, in which he lost the Nellore Lok Sabha seat to a TDP candidate.Vijayasai had been one of Jagan's closest aides, serving as the YSRCP's national general secretary and leader of its parliamentary party in the Rajya Sabha. Their relationship deteriorated after the 2024 electoral defeat. In May 2025, Jagan accused him of surrendering to Chandrababu Naidu after he resigned from the Rajya Sabha and gave statements to investigating agencies in the alleged liquor scam during the YSRCP regime.Ahead of the new party's launch, Vijayasai had stepped up his criticism of the TDP-led government, raising issues including delays in government employees' salaries, unemployment and low salaries for teachers. He had also accused the ruling party of hijacking local body elections. At the same time, he has frequently praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and adopted a more conciliatory position towards the BJP-led Union government.Vijayasai had been associated with the YS family since 1980, when he met former Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy. A chartered accountant by profession, he went on to advise the family on its financial interests and was nominated to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams board for two terms in 2006.His association with Jagan grew closer after Rajasekhara Reddy died in a helicopter crash in September 2009. Vijayasai stood by the family and became one of Jagan's key political strategists and links with national leaders.Both Vijayasai and Jagan have been named as accused in Central Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement Directorate cases relating to alleged disproportionate assets and quid pro quo investments. Vijayasai has been out on bail since October 2013 in the cases, in which the CBI filed chargesheets in 2012. He has contested the allegations.In December 2024, the Andhra Pradesh CID also named Vijayasai in an FIR over allegations that he pressured Kakinada Seaports Ltd shareholder Karnati Venkateswara Rao to sell his shares, which were subsequently acquired through the Aurobindo Pharma group.