TDP general secretaries Shobha Nagi Reddy and Syed Yousuf Ali said that the decision to suspend Veerashiva Reddy was taken by the party's disciplinary committee and approved by party president Chandrababu Naidu.

"He has been continuously defying the party. He has been acting in a selfish manner to serve his personal interests by moving closer to Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhar Reddy and the Congress," the TDP general secretaries pointed out.

Veerashiva Reddy had raised the hackles of party leadership by accusing Chandrababu Naidu of meting out injustice to the drought-prone Rayalaseema region during his nine-year rule. He lashed out at the party boss for opposing the move to enhance the capacity of Pothireddypadu head regulator for providing water for three irrigation projects in Rayalaseema region.

He expressed support for the "Jalayagnam" action plan of Congress government to complete 31 irrigation projects in the state at a massive outlay of Rs 46,000 crore by 2009.

He also faulted state TDP secretary S V Satish Kumar Reddy for interfering in cooperative elections at Velpula village and vitiating the law and order in Kadapa district by gunning down two Congress activists. 

Defying the party, Veerashiva Reddy called on the Chief Minister recently. TDP served a show-cause notice on him a week ago. In his reply, the rebellious legislator reiterated his allegations against Chandrababu Naidu. He contended that he had not breached party discipline and was only pointing out the manner in which the party leadership was taking unilateral decisions.

Incidentally, Kadapa is the home district of Chief Minister Rajasekhar Reddy. Veerashiva Reddy was elected to the assembly from Kamalapuram constituency on TDP ticket in 1994 and again in 2004. For two decades, he has been a close supporter of Rajasekhar Reddy, despite political affiliations.

TDP had suspended him earlier in 1996 for openly supporting Rajasekhar Reddy's candidature in Lok Sabha