CM attacks Jagan for the first time

Breaking his silence for the first time since he took charge, Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Saturday countered the stand taken by former Kadapa MP YS Jaganmohan Reddy. Mr Kiran Kumar Reddy asserted that his government was not depending on the mercy of anyone. This stand and outburst of the Chief Minister came in the wake of the 'challenge' and claim made by the former Kadapa MP, who had claimed from his Jal Deeksha camp in New Delhi recently that he could pull the Andhra Pradesh government at will.

Mr Kiran Kumar Reddy who is now in New Delhi took the occasion in his stride and expressed his ire at Mr Jaganmohan Reddy, possibly to diffuse the Kadapa leader’s claim. He also emphatically stated that his government would last till 2014 and would return to power after the 2014 elections in AP.

Mr Kiran Kumar Reddy also criticised the stand taken by the Legislators who switched sides to desert the ruling party having been elected in 2009 on Congress tickets. He challenged them to resign first before hurling any comments against the Congress party which supported their candidature.   

Reacting sharply against those MLAs who sided with the rebel leader and former mp, Mr Kiran Kumar Reddy made it clear that the MLAs under reference were elected on the Congress ticket and symbol and they had no right to speak particularly after switching sides. They should resign their seats before making any comments, the Chief Minster said.

They were discarding moral values while commenting against the Congress party on whose symbol they were elected, he asserted. Mr Kiran Kumar Reddy also specifically and emphatically stated that former chief minister and Mr Jaganmohan Reddy’s father, YS Rajasekhara Reddy became a tall leader because of the encouragement he received by the Congress president Sonia Gandhi. The Chief Minister pointed out that Dr Rajasekhara Reddy had never challenged the High Command though he had any minor differences with the party regarding the governance in Andhra Pradesh.

Mr Kiran Kumar Reddy pointed out that Dr Rajasekhara Reddy was made APCC president twice, chief minister twice in 2004 and 2009. The Congress Legislature party had unanimously elected him as their leader at the behest of the High Command.

The Congress president also helped him become CLP leader earlier, the Chief Minister said. All those who were elected as MLAs or MPs during the 2004 or 2009 elections were elected only at the mercy of the Congress High Command, Mr Kiran Kumar Reddy observed. Those who were commenting on Congress, he said referring to Mr Jaganmohan Reddy and indirectly taking a dig at him, were new to politics and that they did not figure anywhere earlier.  He pointed out that YSR and his followers worked for the Congress party for 20 to 30 years and were elected because of the Congress Party High Command.