Ponguleti expresses doubt on Jagan's commitment to farmers' welfare

AICC secretary Ponguleti Sudhakar Reddy on Thursday took on himself the task of criticising former Kadapa MP YS Jaganmohan Reddy for organising his 48-hour mass hunger strike to highlight the plight of rain-hit farmers.

Mr Sudhakar Reddy wondered before media persons at the Media Point in Assembly premises whether Mr Jaganmohan Reddy’s ‘Lakshya Deeksha’ on the banks of River Krishna was indeed aimed at highlighting the farmers’ plight or was it aimed at gaining political mileage or targeted at making a bid for the Chief Minister’s ‘gaddi’ or indeed if it was a mere bid to gain power.

The MLC said that the hunger strike could be political gain ‘Rajakeeya Lakshya’, the Chief Ministership ‘Mukhyamantri Lakshya’ or for power ‘Adhikara Lakshya’.

Mr Sudhakar Reddy added that the allegations raised by Mr Jaganmohan Reddy or his supporters were baseless and ‘incomprehensible.’

These allegations, including one which attributed collusion between the Congress and the TDP on the farmers’ issue, was incomprehensible, he said.

The AICC secretary also condemned the Congress Legislators who took part in the mass hunger strike and expressed confidence that their dissidence will not go unpunished.

He also stated that Mr Jaganmohan Reddy had resorted to levelling accusations against the Congress party in which he had found his political bearings. The MLC added that if Mr Jaganmohan Reddy was indeed concerned about farmers’ welfare, he should have extended help to them through the YSR Trust.

The senior Congress leader also urged TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu to call off his indefinite hunger strike.