Congress Accelerates Disowning YSR Legacy In AP

After failing to claim the legacy of late chief minister of Andhra Pradesh Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, the ruling Congress appears to have decided to give up owning him if the mood of its leaders is any indication.

A majority of the MPs, MLAs and ministers were handpicked by the late leader during 2009 elections and there was near unanimity among them in appealing to the Congress high command to nominate Kadapa MP Y S Jaganmohan Reddy as chief minister after the death of Dr Rajasekhara Reddy (he was in Congress at that time) three months later.


However, following the political developments, Jaganmohan Reddy quit the Congress to launch YSR Congress and the ruling party went all out to claim the legacy of the late leader. When their plans went awry, the Congress leaders started attacking Dr Rajasekhara Reddy occasionally but the frequency has increased of late.

At one time, most of the Congress leaders, who owed allegiance to Dr Rajasekhara Reddy, disagreed with two ministers – Dr D L Ravindra Reddy and Kondru Murali Mohan – when they held the late leader responsible for his son’s corrupt deals but their numbers have dwindled during the last few weeks and the party has started attacking the family members of the late leader including him.

When Finance Minister Anam Ramanarayana Reddy spoke harshly against Dr Rajasekhara Reddy’s family members and went to the extent of saying that Jaganmohan Reddy should be hanged, he got support from leaders like Botcha Satysnarayana and others and the protests from within the Congress was feeble this showing the opportunistic politics being indulged by its leaders.

Kodru Mulamohan, Sake Sailajanath joined the bandwagon of K Parthasarathy and Sarve Satyanarayana in spewing venom against YSR and Jagan.

Meanwhile, Labour Minister Danam Nagender, who said that Dr Rajasekhara Reddy was their favourite leader, condemned Anam Ramanarayana Reddy and others for talking ill about the late leader. Speaking to reporters, he said it was improper to make one minister (read Home Minister P Sabitha Indra Reddy) scapegoat for the collective decisions of the Cabinet.

Expressing anguish that BC leader Mopidevi Venkata Ramana became a victim of such a situation, Nagender said that there was no need for Sabitha Indra Reddy to resign from the Cabinet and felt that the CBI’s charge-sheet was damaging the party and the government and the party.