Hyderabad, September 30: Loyalists of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy are growing more belligerent as the Congress high command is toughening its stand, making it clear that it alone will decide the party affairs in AP.
A couple of days after a flexi banner carrying Sonia Gandhi’s picture was torn and some buses burnt in support of Jagan, a minister and some legislators on Tuesday held out threats that they would resign if he was not made chief minister. Going a step further, hardcore fans of Jagan made telephone calls to senior leaders V Hanumantha Rao and K Keshava Rao and PCC spokesman Tulasi Reddy threatening to ‘‘bump them off ’’ if they made remarks against Jagan.
Leading the band of Jagan Mohan Reddy’s loyalists, Women and Child Welfare Minister K Surekha said that if the party chose to continue Rosaiah as the chief minister, she would have no option but to quit the Cabinet and continue as MLA. ‘‘Let the party call for a CLP meeting. If Rosaiah’s name is indicated by the party at the CLP meeting, I will quit his Cabinet,’’ Surekha said. A few legislators from Kadapa district also threatened to resign from the Assembly if the CLP meeting was not convened within the next few days.
In Kadapa, another drama unfolded when Jagan Mohan Reddy’s loyalists prevented the Zilla Parishad meeting.
ZPTC members, who were to attend the meeting, joined the protestors and leading them was MLC and Rajasekhara Reddy’s brother Y S Vivekananda Reddy who wanted the party to make its stand clear. While this is so, supporters of Konda Surekha and Warangal DCC president and MLA Gandra Venkata Ramana Reddy clashed in Warangal district with both the leaders choosing different paths – Surekha declaring her support to Jagan Mohan Reddy, and Ramana Reddy saying he would abide by the decision of the party high command.
Senior leaders, including Hanumantha Rao, continued to maintain that everyone in the State should abide by whatever decision Delhi took. Rao, in an interview to NDTV, blasted the Jagan camp. Apparently on signals from the Central leadership, Rosaiah too asserted that if anyone was not interested in working with him, they could quit.
Rajya Sabha member and YSR’s close aide KVP Ramachandra Rao, meanwhile, left for Delhi for consultations with Central leaders on the leadership issue. But, there was no confirmation if Sonia granted time for Jagan who sought an appointment with her. Sources said Jagan had decided to entrust his businesses to his relatives and plunge into politics to walk in the footsteps of his late father.
–Agencies–