Amidst strategies and counter-strategies by the ruling Telugu Desam Party in Andhra Pradesh and the opposition YSR Congress party to capture the Nellore Municipal Corporation, Nellore mayor Potluri Sravanthi submitted her resignation on Sunday, in a sudden development, ahead of the no-confidence motion against her on December 18.
Her resignation letter was sent to the camp office of District Collector Himanshu Shukla.
As the Collector was unavailable at the time, the letter was handed over to an official at the camp office on the Collector’s instructions, Sravanthi’s husband Jayavardhan said.
The state government accepted Sravanthi’s resignation after taking note of the communication addressed to the Collector.
Following this, the Principal Secretary, Suresh Kumar, issued official orders on Monday appointing Deputy Mayor Poluboina Roop Kumar Yadav as the In-Charge Mayor of the Nellore Municipal Corporation, in accordance with the directions of the Commissioner and Director of the Municipal Administration Department.
The orders stated that based on the report submitted by the District Collector to the government, Roop Kumar Yadav has been entrusted with the responsibilities of the mayor. He will continue to function as In-Charge Mayor until a permanent Mayor is elected.
In the municipal elections held during the previous YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) government, the party had secured all 54 corporator seats in Nellore. Potluri Sravanthi assumed office as Mayor under the ST-General category reservation.
However, following the formation of the NDA-led coalition government in the State after the 2024 general elections, allegations of corruption against her husband Jayavardhan came to the fore.
He was reportedly jailed on two occasions in connection with these cases.
As Sravanthi’s four-year tenure as Mayor was nearing completion, corporators issued notices for a no-confidence motion against her, deciding to remove her from office.
A special meeting to take up the no-confidence motion had been scheduled for December 18.
Realising that she no longer commanded the required support among corporators, Sravanthi chose to resign from her post ahead of the meeting.
With the government formally accepting her resignation, her term as mayor has effectively come to an end.
Officials of the municipal corporation indicated that the meeting scheduled for December 18 would now be held as a general meeting instead of a no-confidence meeting.
While many believe that the mayor’s resignation has put an end to the controversy, senior TDP leaders are proceeding with caution.
Party leaders are reportedly examining the legal aspects of the resignation, including the procedure followed in submitting the resignation letter in the name of the District Collector, and the subsequent administrative process.
Questions are being raised within the party over to whom a mayor’s resignation should be formally submitted, how it is processed, and what statutory steps must follow to ensure its validity.
Meanwhile, corporators belonging to the TDP, along with those who recently defected from the YSRCP to the TDP, reached Goa from Tirupati on Sunday evening.
The TDP leaders are said to be making arrangements to bring them back to Nellore depending on how the situation unfolds.
Sources indicate that the corporators will return to Nellore only after complete clarity emerges on the acceptance and legal standing of the mayor’s resignation.
With Sravanthi’s resignation now official, the YSRCP has reportedly abandoned its hopes of testing strength through the no-confidence motion and has relaxed its control over the small group of corporators still aligned with the party.