Jagan Reddy camp gets restless,looks to CM

Call it switching sides too soon or having second thoughts too early,but sources say this disenchantment is not confined to the three MLAs,who refused to speak on the issue. Others,too,are weighing pros and cons of staying put in the Jagan camp.

And the reasons,sources say,for them to do this course-correction are many. “The CBI investigation against Jagan is making them rethink. Jagan’s outbursts in New Delhi denying his friendship with (former BJP Karnataka minister) Gali Janardhana Reddy have not gone down well here. When he can deny knowing the Reddys,he may leave the MLAs in the lurch too,” said a Jagan supporter. “What has angered the MLAs most are his comments that he has no qualms about supporting the UPA. These MLAs are supporting him in his fight against the Congress believing that the party has been unfair to him. Now when he is in trouble,he goes to Delhi and says he will support the UPA which is nothing but supporting the Congress.”

The most visible face among the MLAs loyal to Jagan,Secunderabad Congress MLA Jayasudha Kapoor has also started distancing herself. This became evident when she refused to resign in his support. On August 10,as many as 23 Congress MLAs had submitted their resignations in protest against the inclusion of former Andhra Pradesh chief minister the late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy’s name in the CBI FIR against Jagan. But Jayasudha,Konda Surekha and K Satyavathi,all Congress MLAs from Telanganga,had said since they had already resigned in support of Telangana before,they need not resign again in favour of Jagan. When Speaker N Manohar asked them to submit resignation letters afresh,only Konda Surekha and K Satyavathi did so while Jayasudha refused.

When asked if she would resign in support of Jagan,she simply said she had a high regard for the late YSR and his family,but did not confirm or deny. “I will follow my conscience and if my conscience says no,I will not do it,” she said.

Sources in the Congress say Jayasudha was caught in a dilemma. “She wants to resign for Telangana but is having second thoughts because that would be construed as support for Jagan by his aides,which she does not want. So,she has taken a safe position,” said a Congress leader who is trying to woo Jayasudha back into the party fold.

Another Jagan loyalist,Sabbam Hari,the Congress MP from Anakapalli,who was supposed to resign also turned his back on the YSR Congress chief. Hari recently left for the US,saying he was taking his wife for medical treatment,but sources said he did not inform the Jagan camp. Hari was supposed to resign along with Nellore MP Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy in protest against the late YSR’s name in the CBI FIR. While Rajamohan submitted his resignation to Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumari,Hari said the monsoon session of Parliament would be his last and that he would put in his papers on September 7,a promise he did not keep.

However,YSR Congress’s official spokesperson Ambati Rambabu dismissed reports that the Congress MLAs who quit in support of Jagan had met Speaker N Manohar,urging him not to accept their resignations.