Hyderabad, February 03: The Congress is slowly but surely moving in to frustrate Jagan Mohan Reddy’s attempt to monopolise the legacy of his father, the late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy.
On Wednesday it fielded Undavalli Arun Kumar, Lok Sabha MP and trusted lieutenant of the former chief minister, to reveal a letter written by YSR when he was CM, strongly recommending to Sonia Gandhi an alliance with the Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) and a berth in the Union Cabinet for its president K Chiranjeevi.
Arun Kumar’s revelation was the grand old party’s tactical response to Jagan followers’ effort to paint the upcoming alliance of the Congress and PRP as a sign of weakness and a desperate attempt to counter their leader.
Flashing a copy of YSR’s letter to Sonia Gandhi dated May 18, 2009 — two days after his return to power — Arun Kumar said, “Except YSR, K V P Ramachandra Rao (YSR’s chief adviser) and Soniaji, no one knew that this letter was written. But I thought the time has come for me to make it public.”
The MP from Rajahmundry said YSR himself had been keen to shore up support for the Congress in the Assembly because it had secured only 36 per cent of the vote in the 2009 election. He therefore saw merit in an alliance with the PRP, which had secured more than 15 per cent of the vote. “The Congress base had shrunk even when YSR was alive, which was why he thought of buttressing the party,” he said.
Though Arun Kumar called a press conference to rebut the Jagan camp’s mockery that the Congress is flailing for survival, he utilised the occasion to emphasize the respect and regard YSR had for Sonia Gandhi and how he would have disapproved of Jagan’s tactics today.
As one who had three decades of association with YSR, Arun Kumar said the late leader told him on many occasions that he could come up in politics only after Sonia took over as party president. Likewise, YSR had publicly declared that KVP Ramachandra Rao was his soul. “But today, some people are trying to claim credit for the good things done by YSR while blaming KVP for corruption. That is not correct.”
–Agencies–