Jagan is not YSR's political heir

Armed with a projector and video clippings, Rajahmundry Member of Parliament Undavalli Arun Kumar on Monday tried to show to the media how close former chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy was to Congress president Sonia Gandhi and party general secretary Rahul Gandhi.

Mr Arun Kumar, a staunch loyalist of YSR, played video clippings of the former chief minister in which he was shown praising the Congress leaders in different functions over a period of time and then told media persons at the CLP that the clippings were evidence of the warmth in the relationship between YSR and the High Command. Stating that the respect YSR had for the Nehru-Gandhi family would never be forgotten, Mr Arun Kumar said that it was mutual, with Ms Sonia Gandhi and Mr Rahul Gandhi reciprocating YSR’s gestures.

“The High Command gave YSR a free hand to work for the welfare of the people and he utilised this opportunity to launch several schemes. How can anyone lay a claim to these schemes?, he asked. The MP said that there was no doubt that Mr Jaganmohan Reddy is YSR’s heir to his property, but the welfare programmes launched by the former chief minister belonged to the Congress and the former Kadapa MP cannot lay claim to these, he said.

When reporters reminded that the High Command had promised to give Rs one lakh as ex-gratia to the kin of those who died of shock in the aftermath of YSR’s death but had not delivered on this promise, Mr Arun Kumar said that he was ignoring the question. It may be mentioned here that the Congress High Command had strongly objected to Mr Jaganmohan Reddy taking out the Odarpu Yatra to console the families of those who died in the aftermath of YSR’s death. Mr Jaganmohan Reddy had announced a similar compensation package during his Odarpu Yatra.

The Rajahmundry MP further refused to answer questions as to why he had not raised his voice against Congress MLAs Shankar Rao and DL Ravindra when they spoke against Dr YSR after his demise. He also said that Dr Shankar Rao had acted in his individual capacity when he approached the High Court and lodged a complaint against Mr Jaganmohan Reddy’s assets.