Hyderabad, May 31: Several Congress leaders in Andhra Pradesh want late chief minister Y. S. Rajashekhara Reddy’s son and Kadapa MP Jaganmohan Reddy dropped from the party for defying the high command and going ahead with his consolation tour in the Telangana region.
His tour triggered widespread violence in the volatile region. Given the situation, as many as nine out of the 11 Congress MPs from Telangana, most of whom were hitherto staunch supporters of Jagan, have allegedly asked the high command to expel him.
“ Jagan has clearly violated party discipline.
It appears he is planning to revolt against the party and float a new outfit. He is conspiring against the party in collusion with the Andhra and Rayalaseema capitalist class to dilute the Telangana movement,” Malkajgiri MP Survey Satyanarayana said on Sunday.
Satyanarayana was till recently arguing that there was nothing wrong in Jagan taking out the Telangana tour as he was doing it in his personal capacity.
Another Congress MP, S. Rajaiah of Warangal, who was also a Jagan loyalist, said party president Sonia Gandhi should take strong action against him. “ Right from the beginning, we had been telling him not to take out his tour as the time was not appropriate.
We are going to write a letter to Sonia seeking action against him,” Rajaiah added.
The Telangana Congress MPs held a meeting and resolved that the expulsion of Jagan from the party was the only solution to resolve the crisis.
Health minister Danam Nagender, once considered a right- hand man of YSR, met Jagan on Saturday and advised him to tender an apology to the Congress president and buy peace with her by withdrawing his tour. But Jagan was adamant to continue his tour in Srikakulam next week.
In Delhi’s political circles, the buzz was that Jagan might either join the BJP or have a tacit understanding with the saffron party to snub the Congress.
Sources said he was in touch with BJP emissaries to craft his political future. BJP leaders in Karnataka, especially the Reddy brothers of Bellary, have discussed with senior party leaders the possibility of roping in Jagan to expand the saffron base in Andhra Pradesh.
However, a senior Congress leader ruled out the possibility of Jagan aligning with the BJP or even splitting the Congress. “ He is trying to intimidate the party with these tactics, but may not go to the extent of forming a separate party. He could get a prominent position in the Congress any time in future if he is patient and remained disciplined,” he said.
Jagan was apparently unhappy with the Congress high command’s strong- arm methods and the meeting between Sonia Gandhi and Praja Rajyam Party ( PRP) chief Chiranjeevi on Saturday.
—Agencies