While the Congress on Tuesday asked a defiant YS Jaganmohan Reddy not to resume his Andhra Pradesh yatra, threatening him with disciplinary action if he did not obey, the MP has decided to go ahead with it.
Through a letter published in his newspaper Sakshi on Tuesday, he declared that it is his moral responsibility and a personal decision to finish the ?Odarpu Yatra?, starting from July 8, and that it had nothing to do with the party. Jaganmohan has said he plans to ?condole families of those who died of shock or committed suicide? after his father YS Rajasekhara Reddy?s death, through the yatra. July 8 is YSR?s birth anniversary.
Last week, the Kadapa MP, accompanied by his mother Vijayalakshmi, an MLA from Pulivendula, had met Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi to get her nod, but failed to get a favourable response. The Congress president apparently advised him to ?think over? his decision.
?All true committed and loyal Congressmen must necessarily observe both the party dharma and laxman rekha of propriety and party discipline,? party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said, at Jaganmohan?s decision to go ahead. ?Failure to do so would perforce lead to a chain of consequences, which are best avoidable. We hope and trust that compliance will take the place of defiance.?
However, for an isolated Jaganmohan, this is his last attempt at staying in the limelight. After the Congress warning, he went incommunicado on Tuesday, leaving for the family estate in Idupulapaya in Kadapa district to pay respects to YSR, who is buried there. He is expected to return to Hyderabad on Wednesday morning and leave by train for Ichapuram in Srikakulam district in the afternoon, from where he will resume his yatra on July 8.
In 2003, YSR had ended a famous 1,500-km long padayatra at Ichapuram and swept to power in the elections five months later.
In the Sakshi letter, Jaganmohan stated that it was his duty to finish what he started in the name of his father. ?On June 29, I and my mother met Sonia Gandhi and explained to her in detail why I felt the need to meet the bereaved families. For some reason, she did not appear pleased and suggested that instead of touring the districts I should gather all the families at one place and meet them. Doing so would raise doubts about my intentions; questions would be asked if I wanted to give money to the families. Helping them financially is not my sole intention. Those who died of shock after hearing about my father?s death are like family members to me. It is my duty to meet them and console them. When my father died, Sonia Gandhi flew down to console me and my family instead of asking us to come to Delhi… Already nine months have passed and my yatra had to be delayed due to various reasons and objections raised by a few persons… It is my duty as YSR?s son. My ?Odarpu yatra? has been politicised and some people are looking at it with a magnifying glass. But there is nothing political in this,? he wrote.
The yatra is a make or break decision for Jaganmohan, who has been pressing the party to make him chief minister. Initially, he had produced the support of over 150 MLAs in his favour, but this had failed to cut any ice with the high command, which had made it clear that K Rosaiah would continue as the CM.
While Jaganmohan has continued to show defiance, most ministers and MLAs who earlier supported him have quietly left his side, wary of inviting the wrath of the high command. Jaganmohan is also learnt to have lost the patronage of his father?s close aide and friend of more than 40 years, Rajya Sabha MP KVP Ramachandra after refusing to listen to his advice.
Earlier too, on May 28, Jaganmohan had left by train to start his yatra in Warangal district defying the Congress directive. It had led to violent protests from Telangana supporters.