Hyderabad, September 30: The Congress party in Andhra Pradesh is witnessing an unusual and unprecedented situation these days. For the first time, the Congress high command is facing a challenge to its supremacy from a section of the party owing allegiance to Kadapa MP Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy, who wants to become the chief minister following the death of his father Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy.
The campaign for “Jaganmohan-as-CM,” which began minutes after the official declaration of YSR’s death on September 3, reached its crescendo last week with the massive show of strength by Jaganmohan at Nallakaluva village on the foothills of Nallamala forests. Addressing the nearly one lakh crowd, Jagan deliberately avoided making a mention of the Congress party or its president Sonia Gandhi as he recalled the services rendered by his father for the welfare and development of the state. He also did not stop his supporters, who were demanding that the high command immediately appoint him the Chief Minister.
The “Jagan-mania” reached new heights with Congress MLAs, ministers and leaders openly threatening to quit from their posts, if he was not made the CM. Not a single day passes without the media reporting about suicide attempts, rallies, dharnas and hunger strikes by Congress leaders in support of Jaganmohan. His supporters have created a sort of hype in the media that Jaganmohan is the unanimous choice of the people for the Chief Minister’s post.
There was not a single leader who questioned why Jaganmohan should be made the CM. There were a few feeble voices like that of former union minister Renuka Chowdary, who said in a diplomatic vein that there was no vacancy for the CM’s post at present, as the high command had nominated senior leader K Rosaiah.
And the result: the “Jaganmaniacs” ransacked the Khammam district Congress office and tore Renuka’s poster into pieces along with that of Sonia Gandhi herself.
The frenzy of Jaganmohan’s supporters has gone to the extent of burning buses and resorting to “rail rokos.” It has been a clear indication of Jaganmohan’s open defiance of the high command’s directions. This has finally angered senior Congress leaders, who have started coming out in the open against the highhanded behaviour of Jaganmohan’s supporters and in support of Rosaiah. As a result, the state Congress is now divided into pro- Jagan and pro-Rosaiah camps. And Rosaiah has also sent out a message to his Cabinet colleagues that those who did not like to work under his leadership could quit.
With the high command virtually ruling out making Jaganmohan as the Chief Minister, at least in the near future, political observers are curiously awaiting his next course of action: will he remain content with whatever is offered to him by the high command-like the Deputy CM’s post or a berth in the Union Cabinet-or will he stage a revolt against Sonia Gandhi and split the party in the state? Sources say Jaganmohan does not have the patience to wait any longer. He is planning to take out a “padayatra,”-a stratagem used by his father YSR in 2003 to come to power-to all parts of the state covering the villages where people committed suicide or died of heart attack following YSR’s death. In the process, he will mobilise public support for his candidature for the CM’s post.
If the high command does not yield even then, Jaganmohan would split the party along with the MLAs and MPs supporting him, forcing a no-confidence motion in the Assembly. And if he manages to dethrone the Rosaiah government, forcing mid-term elections, he would use the YSR card to grab power, sources say.
Well, it all seems a far-fetched plan for the moment, which will not be easy to execute.
The high command is keenly watching the developments. It does not want to allow Jaganmohan to hijack the party for his personal gains. A clearer picture is expected to emerge after the completion of the upcoming elections in Maharashtra, Haryana and Arunachal Pradesh.
—Agencies