AP TAINTED MINISTERS 'FEAR OF JAIL' HOLDS IN CONGRESS

By M H Ahssan & Ramesh Reddy

What is holding back the disgraced ministers in Andhra Pradesh cabinet from quitting the Congress? If they say they were groomed in the Congress culture and that they would stay glued to the party, people would tell them that it was hilarious and ask them to post another joke in the public domain. Sabitha Indra Reddy’s association with the Congress is just a decade old. Nobody would expect them to go and join the Telugu Desam Party. Their way out isn’t quiet unexpected, for the YSR Congress is an immediate, natural and obvious option available to them.
But why are they swearing their loyalty repeatedly to Sonia Gandhi and the Congress? The reason is simple. They are gripped by a sense of fear: the fear of being jailed. They would not mind loosing the frills of a cabinet post, a blue light car, a Z+ security, the official protocols, private secretaries  and a whole lot of honours. But they don’t want to share the barrack either with Jagan or with their erstwhile colleague Mopidevi Venkata Ramana Rao.

For now Kanna, Geetha Reddy and Ponnala have only received notices from the Supreme Court but weren’t named as accused in the quid pro quo. But if the ministers say they were not dejected by the way the Congress high command messed up the whole issue of Jagan Reddy listening to a few nincompoops there are hardly any takers. They are fully aware that they don’t have a charismatic leader to lead them at the hustings. 

For sure they know they would be fighting a loosing battle. But the slew of court cases glued them to the Congress. All of them are not as bold enough as Jagan Reddy is to engage the Congress in a tug of war. For Jagan Reddy, its just what the CBI charges him with, but for others there may be many that would surface. If the quid pro quo cases are collective, there may be other charges that might not have seen the light of the day.

Dharmana, who is leaving for Srikakulam might enact show of strength and send a message across to the Congress as well as Jagan that he was ready for a take off. Sabitha is already confabulating with hundreds of followers. Minister Danam Nagender surprisingly and strategically swore by the Home Minister saying that all decisions were collective and the cabinet should own up the responsibility. 

Anam Vivekananda Reddy, as expected used indecent language and made slanderous remarks against Jagan, while minister C Ramachandraiah too called Jagan Reddy and held him responsible for the fate of several ministers and bureaucrats. The episode of exits like cabinet ministers is neither the beginning nor the end.