The following article was written for OpIndia. Pasting it here for reference:
According to Dr. Sanjaya Baru,
media advisor to then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh once wrote
that whenever the then Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Dr. Y.S.Rajashekhar
Reddy visited Delhi, Manmohan Singh
always used the same welcome line – “Welcome Dr. Reddy, we are here because you
are there”. Manmohan Singh was referring to the massive victory that Congress
scored in the combined Andhra Pradesh under YSR’s guidance (34/42 seats in 2004
and 33/42 in 2009). While he was still the CM, YSR died in an helicopter
accident in September 2009.
His son Y.S.Jagan Mohan Reddy
assumed that he will be made the Chief Minister. Sonia Gandhi was not in favour
of doing so. Jagan split the party and left Congress. CBI then arrested Jagan
for indulging in corruption when YSR was Chief Minister. Jagan became leader of
opposition in 2014 and the Chief Minister in 2019.
Up until now, I haven’t told you
anything that hasn’t been widely known (outside of AP, I mean). The lesser-known
aspect, outside of the state, is the amazing palace intrigue of the YSR family
that will put any TV series to shame! This article intends to bring out recent
happenings in this family that covers murder, betrayal, religion, and ofcourse
politics!
YSR’s own brother –
Y.S.Vivekananda Reddy
Y.S.Vivekananda Reddy was
murdered in March 2019. On April 16, 2022 - the CBI arrested
Y.S.Viveka's cousin brother - Y.S.Bhaskar Reddy as the main conspirator behind
this murder! Bhaskar Reddy's son, Avinash Reddy is the current YSRCP MP from
the Kadapa constituency. Kadapa constituency has been the traditional
stronghold of the YSR family – YSR represented it from 1989 to 1999. Y.S.Viveka
represented it from 1999 to 2009. Y.S.Jagan represented it from 2009 to 2014. For
the first time, someone outside of the direct bloodline of YSR, was announced
as a candidate and he won both in 2014 and 2019 from YSRCP party.
That MP, Y.S.Avinash Reddy, is
also named by the CBI as the co-conspirator in the murder of YSR’s own brother.
How come someone outside the direct bloodline of YSR was made to represent
Kadapa in 2014 (and in 2019)? Enter Y.S.Jagan’s wife – Y.S.Bharati. Y.S.Bharati’s mother and Y.S.Avinash Reddy’s
father are siblings!
What is the CBI case? That Mr.
Y.S.Bhaskar Reddy conspired along with his son, and hired goons to hack
Y.S.Vivekananda to death. Bhaskar Reddy and his son worked towards defeating
Viveka in 2017 MLC elections. And that Y.S.Avinash Reddy was amongst the first
at the scene and declare to the press that this was a death by heart attack!
Currently, the case still isn’t
solved. Jagan, who was in opposition when the murder happened, demanded a CBI
enquiry. After becoming CM, he strongly opposed it. Y.S.
Viveka's daughter had to approach the High Court to get a CBI enquiry done. She
submitted a damning petition to the Court, on Jagan. All these years, Jagan
routinely did an emotional drama in the Assembly with some filmy dialogues. With
the damning CBI chargesheet out, it reflected very poorly on Jagan that he
continues to shelter the very family that killed his own uncle. Will it have
electoral impact? Time will tell!
YSR’s daughter –
Y.S.Sharmila
After Y.S.Jagan quit the
Congress, he continued his yatra across the state. The yatra was titled Odarpu
Yatra (Condolence Visits) – he claimed to be visiting the homes of the people
who died unable to bear the news of YSR’s death! Jagan was arrested by the CBI
in corruption cases, and that’s when his sister Y.S.Sharmila entered the fray! She
continued to walk in this yatra (walked ~3000 kms over 10 months in 2012-13)
and deliver political speeches for the entire duration that Jagan was in jail.
Though she campaigned in both, she didn’t contest the 2014 and 2019 elections.
Suddenly in early 2021, Sharmila
announced that she has had huge differences with Jagan and is not on talking
terms with him anymore. In leaked reports and in a detailed interview, we
got to know some details of the unsavoury arguments that happened between Jagan
and Sharmila. She announced the setting up of a new party in Telangana – the
YSRTP. She yet again walked 3000 kms in Telangana but her party remained a dud.
She eventually merged it with the Congress party, and is now appointed as the
President of the Andhra Pradesh Congress.
As soon as she was appointed, the
loyal soldiers of Y.S.Jagan started attacking her with fierce language on
social media. This led to a furious Sharmila spilling more beans about their feud
– which further led to Jagan’s portrayal in a very bad light. She also claimed
that she has 50% share in the family newspaper and channel – Sakshi. All along,
people assumed that this was fully owned by Jagan himself. Though Sharmila’s
appointment will not revive a dead Congress in the state, her utterances in
response to the attack from Jagan’s party are bound to help the opposition
TDP-Jana Sena combine. Jagan’s image of being a caring human has already taken
a beating with the CBI case on the murder of his uncle. With his sister now
revealing hitherto unheard titbits, the elections just heated up more!
YSR’s wife – Y.S.Vijayamma
Though not a politician, she was
the one who contested the Pulivendula MLA seat that YSR represented. Along with
her daughter, Sharmila, she was instrumental in the YSRCP winning 15 out of 18
bypoll seats in June 2012, when Jagan was in jail. Jagan made her the Honorary
President of YSRCP. However, when the feud between her son and daughter
happened, she took the side of her daughter Sharmila. She resigned from the
post of Honorary President of YSRCP and moved her base to stay close with her
daughter Y.S.Sharmila. She resigned at a public meeting of the YSRCP cadre and
the cold vibes with which Jagan handled the entire situation was there for
everyone to see. The entire family recently met for the engagement of
Sharmila’s son and the cold vibes at the group picture became the talk of the
media for a full day!
Where does all of this
leave Y.S.Jagan?
For the Sankranthi festival,
Y.S.Jagan spent nearly 1.5 crores worth of public money to build
a temple set in his house. He had to do this because his wife, Y.S.Bharati,
does not go to temples (In case you folks didn’t know – the entire family are
practicing staunch Christians). This led to a political slugfest on how he is
splurging money for erecting sets at his home just to accommodate his wife’s
wishes. Y.S.Bharati is also his business partner in almost all of his
businesses (Bharati Cements is named after her. Jagati publications, that runs
the family newspaper & channel, is a word combination of Jagan and
Bharati…and so on!)
In 2019 elections, YSRCP had
continuously campaigned that Chandrababu Naidu had backstabbed his own
father-in-law, NTR. In contrast, Y.S.Jagan was portrayed as this loving son,
doting brother and all that. That image lies shattered now. Jagan is just 52
years of age, so he will continue to play a prominent role in the politics of
AP atleast for 2 more decades. The family intrigue only promises to become more
intriguing!
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