By IANS,
Hyderabad : Two MPs and 27 Andhra Pradesh legislators loyal to YSR Congress party chief Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy Sunday decided to resign to protest the inclusion of his father and late chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy’s name in the complaint registered in a case against him.
Rallying behind Jaganmohan, who is facing a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the alleged illegal assets, two MPs of the ruling Congress party and 27 legislators, almost all of them from Congress, decided to quit.
All the legislators would submit their resignations to assembly Speaker N. Manohar at 11 a.m. Monday, announced YSR Congress leader and former minister P. Subhash Chandra Bose after a meeting, attended by 25 legislators. He claimed that two members of opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) have also conveyed to them that they would also resign.
Accompanied by the legislators, Bose read out a statement announcing their decision to quit in protest against the attempts to “portray the late leader as an accused”.
M. Rajamohan Reddy and Sabbam Hari, members of Lok Sabha from Nellore and Ankapalli have also decided to submit their resignations.
Claiming that it was YSR who brought Congress to power in 2004 and again in 2009, the legislators alleged that after his death, the same party made deliberate attempts to dilute the welfare schemes launched by him.
“It is unfortunate the Congress high command is now trying to damage his legacy by portraying him as an accused. In such a situation, we feel it is our historic responsibility to resign,” announced Bose.
Some more legislators are reportedly contemplating to quit, claim YSR Congress leaders.
Former minister Konda Sureskha, actress and legislator Jayasudha and a member of council Satyavati decided to quit both from the legislature and the Congress party.
Earlier, Congress leader Amarnath Reddy told reporters that they had decided to submit their resignations out of love for their beloved late leader.
“The Congress had called YSR a god when he was the chief minister and now the same party is tarnishing his image after his death by including his name in the FIR,” he said.
Political observers say the development may not lead to the immediate collapse of the Congress government.
Interestingly, the decision came a day after Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) formally merged with Congress party.
Presently, Congress has 155 members in 294-member assembly. The PRP has 18 members but one of loyal to Jagan has decided to quit. Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM), which has six members, may also come to the government’s rescue in case of any crisis.
According to political observers, Jagan may create serious problems for the government if he can make at least 40 Congress legislators resign.
It also remains to be seen how the speaker reacts to the resignations of Jagan group. He had last month rejected mass resignations of 101 legislators, who wanted a separate Telangana state.
YSR Congress party hopes many others would come forward to quit. “You should not be surprised if 29 more legislators submit their resignations tomorrow (Monday),” said party leader Jupudi Prabhakar.
The FIR says YSR doled out several favours to certain companies which invested in the firms floated by his son Jaganmohan in a quid-pro-quo arrangement.
YSR, who became chief minister in 2004, died in a helicopter crash in 2009.
Jagan, as Jaganmohan Reddy is popularly known, quit the Congress last year after he was sidelined by the party leadership. He floated the YSR Congress party in March this year and was re-elected to the Lok Sabha from Kadapa.
The CBI last week launched the probe against Jagan on the direction of the Andhra Pradesh High Court on the petitions of a state minister and some leaders of opposition TDP.
The central agency during the last four days searched residences, companies of Jagan, his family members and also the firms which invested in his businesses.
The legislators loyal to Jagan met and took the decision even as Jagan continues to tour Krishna district to console the family members of those who committed suicide or died of shock following his father’s death.
Those who attended the meeting include P. Subhash Chandra Bose, B. Srinivas Reddy, Konda Surekha and K. Ramakrishna who served as ministers under YSR.