Has the once-powerful TDP minister Devineni Umamaheshwar Rao gone out of favour in Chandrababu Naidu’s coterie? Till recently, Devineni used to flaunt his closeness to Chandrababu and used to be abrasive while talking to colleagues. He has rubbed many party leaders the wrong way.
Now that Chandrababu Naidu is out of power and is trying to identify and correct one wrong decision after another, he apparently has decided to sideline Devineni Uma. He has now come to realise that Uma has actually alienated quite a few sincere party leaders. So, of late, Chandrababu Naidu has reduced his importance in the party.
Sources say that Vijayawada MP Kesineni Nani has particularly forced Chandrababu Naidu to reduce the importance of Devineni Uma. Nani and Uma have been at loggerheads for quite some time and Nani on several occasions criticised Uma openly. Now Uma is not even an MLA, while Nani is a sitting MP. So, Nani impressed upon Chandrababu to keep off Devineni Uma for some time. The result is that though he is the president of Krishna district TDP, he has to function under Kesineni Nani, who is Vijayawada MP.