Vijayawada: The much-hyped cabinet expansion in Andhra Pradesh has left many heart-burns and discontentment is at an all time high among the cadre of the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) so much so that several leaders are looking for exit doors from the party.

Not getting a ministerial berth and preference for leaders from higher castes in the cabinet expansion are said to be the reason for the unhappiness among the TDP cadre. Notabl among those who openly criticised the TDP leadership are Dhulipalla Narendra, Chintamaneni Prabhakar and Gorantala Buchaiah Choudary.

MLA Gopalakrishna Reddy and (right) his resignation letter to the Assembly Speaker.

Dhulipalla Narendra: He is facing pressure from his followers to quit TDP. Many of his supporters staged a rasta roko in his bastion of Chintalapudi in Guntur district. The protestors stated that not giving a ministerial berth to Narendra is a grave injustice to the party loyalist. Meanwhile, the TDP leadership assigned Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy to pacify Narendra.

Chintamaneni Prabhakar: The MLA from West Godavari is on record stating that he is not averse to the idea of starting a new party. At a meeting with his followers at ZPTC Guest House in Eluru, he expressed deep disappointment at not being made a minister despite working for the party for several years. "Hard work is not recognised in TDP," he told his supporters at the meeting. Prabhakar also expressed his displeasure at rival Pitani Satyanarayana being made a minister.

Bojjala Gopalakrishna Reddy: MLA Gopalakrishna Reddy did not waste time in resigning as MLA after it became apparent that his name was not considered for the cabinet expansion.

Other prominent “sulking” leaders in the TDP as on Sunday were Pendurti MLA Bandaru Satyanarayana Murthy, Bonda Umamaheshwara Rao, M Venugopal Reddy and Gautu Shyamsundar Shivaji who openly expressed their disappointment for being sidelined in the cabinet reshuffle exercise.