YSR SHADOW LOOMS LARGE OVER ANDHRA PRADESH

By M H Ahssan / Hyderabad

One cannot have the cake and eat it too. The Congress party in Andhra Pradesh has realised it, albeit belatedly, with regard to former chief minister, late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, who was the party’s lucky mascot in 2004 and 2009.

Hitherto, the Congress leaders in the state had been claiming the legacy of YSR, saying that he had been a staunch loyalist of the party till his untimely death in a helicopter crash in September 2009. At the same time, they were forced to attack YSR’s son Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, who had revolted against the Congress and floated his own political outfit, the YSR Congress party. As Jagan landed up in jail in connection with his alleged illegal assets case being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Congress leaders in the state had to face an embarrassing situation as the periodical charge sheets filed by the CBI categorically pointed out how YSR had misused his authority to help his son amass huge wealth.
 

Yet, they could not dare attack YSR. Now, the Congress leadership has realised that it cannot selectively attack Jagan, while owning up the legacy of YSR. Reason: the CBI has targeted as many as six Congress ministers, who had played instrumental roles in doling out benefits to various industrial houses that had invested in Jagan’s business empire. One of these six ministers — Mopidevi Venkataramana — was forced to resign and go to jail, a couple of days before Jagan was arrested in May 2012.

A few months later, another minister, Dharmana Prasada Rao was chargesheeted by the CBI in the Jagan case, which alleged that he had played a key role in allotting a huge extent of land to a private firm as a quid pro quo gesture to the firm’s investment of more than ` 800 crore in Jagan’s business ventures.

And on April 8, the CBI filed the fifth chargesheet in the court, naming state Home Minister Sabita Indra Reddy as an accused in Jagan’s case. And there were enough hints that three other ministers — J Geetha Reddy, Ponnala Lakshmaiah and Kanna Lakshminarayana — would also be chargesheeted by the CBI sooner or later.

This has pushed the Congress party into a tight spot. Being a home minister, it would be embarrassing for Sabita to continue in the cabinet; but if she is dropped, there would be a demand for dropping the other accused ministers as well. And it would trigger unrest in the state cabinet and in the party. At the same time, if the government tries to defend them, it would dilute the case against Jagan.

So, the Congress leaders have now started attacking YSR, saying the ministers had to simply obey his instructions as he was the chief minister and they were not responsible for his underhand dealings.

Some of the die- hard loyalists of YSR, too, are now openly accusing him of resorting to nepotism.

And some others, like Union Minister Sarve Satyanarayana, went to the extent of saying that YSR had to die a dog’s death for plundering public money and helping Jagan amass huge wealth through illegal means.

The party leadership has now decided to disown YSR and develop its own brand image by launching unique populist schemes such as SC/ ST sub- plan, Amma Hastham and Rajiv Yuvakiranaalu. So, in the next elections, it is going to be a battle between Brand YSR and Brand Congress in Andhra Pradesh.

The next polls in Andhra Pradesh will be a battle between Brand YSR and Brand Congress.