Jagan stages show of strength, taunts Congress

Stealing the thunder in the Capital with a daylong fast on Tuesday, rebel S Jagan Mohan Reddy, former Kadapa MP, put the Congress leadership on notice on the increasing support he is gaining to pose a threat to its government in the state.

Though the fast was purported to raise the farmers’’ demands and protest “ injustice” to Andhra Pradesh in the Krishna river water tribunal award December- end, Jagan actually brought his supporters to Delhi for a show of strength, roping in at least two Congress MPs and a dozen MLAs to switch side publicly.

It is another matter that he had boasted last week that ten Congress MPs and no less than 30 MLAs will leave the party to join him in an exercise to ultimately bring down the party government in Andhra Pradesh.

His political motive in holding the show of strength, with a train- full of supporters from Andhra Pradesh, was clear from his address to the gathering that the Congress government in the state will fall if the party takes action against the MLAs and MPs in his protest fast. He taunted the Congress that he was doing a favour to it by not asking his supporters to withdraw support to the Kiran Reddy- led Congress government.

Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy from Nellore and Sabbam Hari from Anakapalli were the two Congress MPs joining his fast at the famous Jantar Mantar here that also saw two MLAs each of TDP and Praja Rajyam Party in the crowd. The Congress leadership is certainly worried about Jagan’’ s growing influence since he quit the party and the Lok Sabha membership in November in protest of not giving him SR’’ s CM seat as his true heir, but a party spokesman put up a brave face claiming there is no threat to the party government in Andhra Pradesh from his fast. There were some 3,000 supporters brought to Delhi by a special train to join Jagan’s fast.