Yatra brings Jagan back in spotlight

Observers feel that since a state Cabinet reshuffle is on the cards and also dates of bypolls to at least 15 seats are to be announced soon,Jaganmohan wants to be seen in the thick of action. “He is also making moves to destabilise Chief Minister K Rosaiah before the reshuffle. The three-day yatra is turning out to be a show of strength with thousands of people gathering everywhere to greet him as the chief minister-in-waiting. He will probably put pressure through loyal Congressmen to retain YSR loyalists in the Cabinet,while pressing for more to be included. Rosaiah will do it at the risk of being isolated himself,” said an official of the APCC. Bypolls are expected to be announced as 10 MLAs of Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) have resigned over the separate state issue.

During the yatra,Jaganmohan covered 13 Assembly constituencies in West Godavari where the maximum number of alleged suicides and deaths followed after YSR’s plane crash.

Congressmen see Jaganmohan’s yatra as a well-calculated move to remain in the limelight while he awaits to claim the CM’s post. Ahead of his yatra,Jaganmohan met senior Congress leaders,including APCC president D Srinivas,and took pains to explain that “he was not undertaking the journey to make a political statement but to spend some time with the families of the victims”. He even spoke to Congress in-charge of political affairs in the state Veerappa Moily,explaining that it was not a political yatra.

“The fact that he went about giving clarifications gave him away. Everyone knows that it would turn out to be a show of his popularity and strength and it has been proved right. More than meeting and consoling the family members,Jaganmohan is being seen amidst crowds of supporters everywhere he is going,” an official said.

APCC president D Srinivas expressed surprise at the timing. “Why after seven months he suddenly wants to meet these families? I think he is feeling that the spotlight has turned away from him. Rosaiah is also firmly in the saddle now so Jaganmohan may have decided to show that he is not out of the race yet,” Srinivas said.

Detractors in the Congress feel that if Chief Minister K Rosaiah decides to drop a few YSR loyalists from his Cabinet in the reshuffle,Jaganmohan may engineer a coup by asking other ministers to resign.

Jaganmohan landed at Gannavaram airport near Vijayawada on Friday afternoon on the first day of his tour and set out to West Godavari district. All along the way he was greeted by huge crowds who not only hailed YSR but raised slogans proclaiming Jaganmohan as the next CM. Though he claimed that he was not making a political statement,several Congress MLAs loyal to YSR accompanied him on his yatra.