Royala Telangana doesn't stop Jagan's juggernaut

HYDERABAD: YSRC honorary president YS Vijayalakshmi does not believe that the Congress is going to announce a Telangana State. She is convinced that if at all it does, it will club two of the four Rayalaseema districts with Telangana and the rest with Andhra to limit the presence of YSRC in Andhra region.

'Otherwise, there is no explanation for this talk of Rayala-Telangana. Each and every Congress move is intended to target Jagan Mohan Reddy. But what the Congress biggies do not understand is that YSRC will come to power in both States if division takes place before the next general elections. This Rayala-Telangana concept is going to work in our favour,' Vijayalakshmi claimed, but did not explain how.

Vijayalakshmi also ruled out the possibility of her party trying to cosy up to the Congress. 'I do not see any reason why we should. They have put Jagan Mohan Reddy behind bars for more than a year.

The CBI keeps saying it has more number of charge-sheets to file. They have harassed us in every conceivable fashion. CBI officials were in this house from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. for 14 days, trying to assess the value of the house,' she said, in an interaction with select mediapersons at her posh Lotus Pond residence here Friday.

Pressed further on whether the YSRC will move closer to the Congress since Jagan has been in jail for more than a year, Vijayalakshmi replied her son and her party had already suffered a lot and it makes no sense for them to join hands with the Congress.

'There is no question of supporting the Congress,' she asserted and declined to commit herself on the key question of which formation at the Centre will the YSRC support.

'It is too early to say. We will take a decision then, keeping in mind the best interests of the State and the people,' she said. 'I cannot say anything now,' she insisted when journalists persisted with the same question.

Asked if the YSRC felt the appointment of Digivijaya Singh as incharge of State Congress affairs was a signal that the party was looking to mend fences, she said she did not think so.

'There are so many people (in Congress) who had excellent relations with Rajasekhara Reddy,' she pointed out. She did not want to subscribe to Digvijaya Singh's view that Jagan had Congress DNA. 'No, not at all. Jagan Mohan Reddy has the DNA of his father. Credibility is the DNA that Jagan Babu has.'

Vijayalakshmi devoted most of her time to establish that her son did nothing wrong and that the CBI investigation was politically motivated.

'The CBI did not ask Jagan Babu as to what he thought about the allegations before listing him as A1 in the assets case. It never happened anywhere in the world that a person is listed as accused in a charge-sheet without even giving him a free and fair opportunity to disprove it,' she said.

Vijayalakshmi said her son would get bail and emerge from the cases unscathed. 'There is God. He is on our side. We believe that He will help us,' she said regardless of the kind of charges the CBI keeps filing against Jagan.

'Even though it is not doing any investigation now, it still says it has to file more number of charge-sheets,' Vijayalakshmi said, adding, 'We are waiting for Sept 9 since, while rejecting bail on May 9, the Supreme Court had directed the CBI to complete investigation in four months so that Jagan Mohan Reddy could apply for bail.'

Vijayalakshmi said her party is all set to sweep panchayat elections in Telangana region too. She had evoked good response when she visited a few Telangana districts. 'The people of Telangana region have not yet forgotten Rajasekhara Reddy and things he has done for their well being,' she said.