Jagan case: Congress caught on wrong foot

New Delhi: The Congress leadership at the Centre is fuming over the style of functioning of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is not in the loop on the next move of the CBI, whether or not YSRCP leader Y S Jaganmohan Reddy will be arrested.

The CBI comes under the Prime Minister, who is also the Union Personnel Minister, but the latter is unaware of the CBI's modus-operandi in handling the case.

Sources stated that though it looks imminent that Jagan Reddy will be behind bars, as his co-accused have already been taken into custody , they stated that the Prime Minister and the Cabinet were totally in the dark on the CBI's future course of action.

The Central leadership is assuming that the CBI will naturally be under pressure to arrest Jagan, who is A-1 and still at large, while the co-accused are already languishing in jail. They point out that even the A-2 is behind bars. This much of latitude the CBI has already shown to Jagan.

Interestingly, it is learnt that even Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy was not aware of the arrest of his Cabinet colleague, Excise Minister Mopidevi Venkataramana.

'Had it been Indira Gandhi, she would have been aware even if there was a move to arrest a night watchman,' stated a senior Congress leader. He added, 'In this case, when a State Cabinet Minister was being taken into custody, no one was kept in the loop.'

The Congress leaders have lost hope of even putting up a decent fight in the ensuing round of Assembly by-elections slated for June 12, saying that it is Advantage Jagan in Andhra Pradesh.

Jagan will sail on sympathy vote, sweeping a majority of the seats. In fact, the Congress High Command is already getting phone-calls from the State leaders, making excuses for their imminent defeat at the hustings.

According to them, the petrol hike, clubbed with Jagan's arrest, will ensure the party's debacle in the State.

They point out that even otherwise those, who defied the party whip by voting against the Trust Motion, are those, who are confident of romping back victorious, although Jagan has a wider following in the Congress Legislature Party (CLP).

Meanwhile, AICC general-secretary in-charge of Andhra Pradesh Ghulam Nabi Azad stated, 'The Centre has no role in Jagan's case. It is the High Court, which has directed the CBI to go into the irregularities of Jagan amassing wealth and assets, after its attention was drawn by individual petitions.'