Hyderabad, May 14: Eight months after the death of YS Rajasekhara Reddy, a no-holdsbarred fight appears inevitable between his son YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and successor K Rosaiah.
If the Kadapa MP feels that the CM’s gaddi is rightfully his, Rosaiah appears to be fed up with the former’s taunts and tantrums.
For now, the 77-year-old CM does not want to publicly take on his former boss’ son, which would accord too much importance to the brash upstart. “Jagan was not even born when I entered politics.
Why should I react to what he is saying?” Rosaiah is reported to have said recently. But that does not mean he will keep quiet.
Apart from briefing New Delhi about the “anti-government” campaign by Jagan Mohan, the CM is insisting his fellow ministers defend him against the MP.
Jagan Mohan has been very vocal about the Rosaiah regime “diluting” the welfare schemes initiated by his late father. But the fact remains that even Rajasekhara Reddy, just weeks into his second term in power, had begun to feel the pinch of his own grandiose schemes and even charted a course correction before his untimely death last September.
Given the state’s precarious financial health, Rosaiah has no option but to prune expenditure.
Jagan has seen in this a good stick to beat Rosaiah with. At public meetings in recent weeks, and through the columns of his newspaper, he is losing no opportunity to rile the government. A patchup was attempted a month ago when Jagan called on Rosaiah before embarking on a yatra that was ostensibly to console the families of those who died unable to bear the shock of Rajasekhara Reddy’s demise. In actuality, the yatra went beyond consolation.
“The Golden Era has come to an end with my father’s death. I will restore it,” the MP declared during his tour. Rosaiah was said to be irked that some of his ministers stood silently by Jagan as he attacked his and their own government.
“Some ministers did call me saying they are under pressure to take part in the yatra and I allowed them to go. But that does not mean they can ignore their work and be with Jagan for days together. Moreover, they should have at least privately conveyed to Jagan their displeasure about his anti-government remarks. By saying that the Golden Age has ended, does he mean we are all rakshasas?” the CM reportedly fumed.
Rosaiah believes he has Delhi’s support. “Andhra Pradesh is our kingdom and I am the heir. How can anyone else be considered for the throne,” the MP reportedly said and the remark was promptly reported to Delhi. Jagan is also said to have prepared an album containing photos of his yatra and a Power Point presentation for Sonia Gandhi’s eyes but Madam reportedly was not interested.
Clearly, Rosaiah’s supporters believe that they need do no more than wait for the ‘boy’ to burn himself out.
–Agencies