Kadapa MP Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s arrest appears to be imminent with highly placed sources telling this newspaper that it will be “done” by the end of this month. Incidentally, Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy will be returning from a four-day sojourn of Bengaluru on Tuesday morning and will stop over in Mylavaram in Krishna district to console the families of the recent hooch tragedy victims. He will also participate in a dharna against the government’s failure to reimburse the fees to eligible students on January 4 at Ongole. He will later proceed on his Vodarpu Yatra in Guntur district.
Sources said that apart from the CBI arresting Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy at an “appropriate time” in January, the enforcement directorate will soon take steps to “freeze” the accounts of Jagati Public-ations, publisher of the Telugu daily Sakshi in the next few days. A YSR Congress party spokesperson, on condition of anonymity, told this correspondent that the Pulivendula legislator Vijayamma, mother of Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy, will take over the reins of the party affairs and will undertake the Vodarpu tour.
“It (arrest of Jagan Mohan Reddy) is going to be a blessing in disguise for the YSR party. There has been criticism of Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy over his autocratic style of functioning and there is also a rethinking in the party cadre about the news reports appearing in a section of the media that one day or the other, Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy will rejoin the Congress. All this will end once he is arrested, and it is going to create a new begining in state politics,” said the party spokesperson. However, people in the ruling Congress circles feel that the heaven is not going to fall with the arrest of Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy in the days to come.
“We have reports that Jagan Mohan Reddy’s influence is waning with each passing day, but in the long run, nothing is going to damage the Congress as elections are still two and a half years away,” said a senior leader of the Congress. Meanwhile, the arrest of Venumbaka Vijayasai Reddy sent shock waves through the YSR Congress party. Vijayasai Reddy was the trusted lieutenant not only of Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy but also of the late Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, having been his personal auditor for many years.
Mr Vijayasai Reddy has maintained close relations with the late YSR family, being a partner, advisor, aide as well as a financial consultant to Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy even before 2004. Mr Vijayasai Reddy was appointed one of the members of the TTD during YSR’s regime as Chief Minister.
