Former Congress MP Y S Jaganmohan Reddy today dared the Congress to take action against party MLAs and MPs who joined him in a sit-in at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, saying he was doing a favour by not bringing down the Kiran Kumar Reddy government in Andhra Pradesh.
“If I want, I can bring the government down. But I am a gentleman,” Reddy said. According to sources, 31 members of the Andhra Pradesh Assembly and two Congress MPs – Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy from Nellore and Sabbam Hari from Anakapalli – were by his side, demonstrating against the Central government.
There was no word on what action the party would take against the MPs. Reddy arived in Delhi to stage a day-long fast to highlight the ‘injustice’ to Andhra Pradesh in the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal award and the plight of farmers in the state.
Among the legislators, 24 MLAs were from the Congress, four from the Telugu Desam Party and one from Praja Rajyam Party. Three other members of the legislative council from the Congress party were supporting Reddy’s fast.
The Congress has 156 members in the 294-member state assembly and requires 149 members for a simple majority. Its central leadership put up a brave face, claiming it (dharna) was all that he was capable of but could do no more.
However, there was brisk activity, with senior leader M Veerappa Moily, party general secretary in-charge of the state, flying to Hyderabad to talk with Chief Minister Reddy and state unit chief D Srinivas.The chief minister also held a meeting with ministers from Jagan’s Kadapa district.
Meanwhile, senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member V Hanumantha Rao said in Hyderabad that Jagan’s father and ex-CM Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, was responsible for the tribunal verdict, as his government failed to present strong arguments.
There was commotion at Rao’s news conference at the Congress headquarters in Hyderabad, as he refused to reply to a query by a reporter of the Sakshi news channel owned by Reddy. He asked the reporter to leave the room, saying he was not invited. As the other journalists protested, Rao ended the conference abruptly.