Hyderabad, November 28: Barely 24 hours after the Congress high command appointed N Kiran Kumar Reddy as the Chief Minister, cracks have begun appearing in late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy’s family.
YSR brother dumps Jaganmohan Reddy
The former CM’s brother, Y S Vivekananda Reddy, is camping in New Delhi, demanding a ministerial berth in the new government, and swearing allegiance to the Congress party.
The party, which had been looking for ways to show YSR’s son and Kadapa MP Y S Jaganmohan Reddy his place, is likely to reward Vivekananda’s loyalty. The development comes as a major blow to Jaganmohan, who has appeared to have increasingly defiant towards the Congress high command in recent days.
After YSR’s death on September 2 last year, the Jaganmohan camp had claimed the support of 148 MLAs to make him the Chief Minister. On Friday, when Jaganmohan called meetings with loyalists at his office and residence to take stock after Kiran Reddy’s appointment as CM, he found only 17 MLAs attending them. They included three ministers who had no chance of a berth in the new government.
It was Vivekananda who had given up his position as Kadapa MP in the May 2009 election, making way for his nephew to contest from there. He was later appointed MLC.
Sources in Jaganmohan’s camp say that in spite of the sacrifice his uncle made, Jaganmohan refused to heed his advice when he decided to take on the Congress high command.
“When Jaganmohan’s Sakshi TV criticised Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Vivekananda ran out of patience. He said that he worked for the party for 30 years along with YSR and did not approve of Jaganmohan resorting to such tactics to become the CM. It was the last straw,” a source said.
When asked if Jaganmohan knew that he was lobbying for a berth in the new CM’s ministry, Vivekananda said, “If I feel that it it necessary I will inform him.” “I feel the best way to keep the YSR legacy alive is by ensuring that his welfare projects are implemented properly. I am seeking to be made minister so that I know that things are being done,” Vivekananda said.
In another significant development on Friday, K V P Ramachandra Rao, a close friend of YSR for nearly 40 years and advisor to the government, decided to stay away from Jaganmohan when he held meetings with loyalists at his Banjara Hills residence and later at his office.
Jaganmohan apparently sent feelers to the Rajya Sabha member that he was not needed anymore. Jaganmohan is believed to be upset that KVP failed to persuade the Congress high command to appoint him as CM.
“Jaganmohan did not like that KVP hobnobbed with Union Law Minister and AICC incharge of Andhra affairs Veerappa Moily when he was here to oversee the appointment of new chief minister. He made it very clear that KVP is out of his camp during the meeting held today,” an official said.
At the meetings with loyalists, Jaganmohan was apparently in a combative mood as he felt that the Congress high command had appointed Kiran Reddy as the CM to undermine him. A source said after the Thursday meeting of the CM with MLAs, Jaganmohan took stock of his loyalists and fence-sitters. “We also discussed about a few MLAs and MLCs who are cozying up to the Chief Minister,” a source said.
——–Agencies