YSR's brother to remain in Cong

Y S Vivekananda Reddy, younger brother of former chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy (YSR), said he would continue in the Congress party. He also denied allegations by his nephew Y S Jaganmohan Reddy that the party had hatched a conspiracy to divide the family.

This was the first time that the soft-spoken Vivekananda publicly admited differences among members of the YSR family, which had remained close-knit so far. He said he was expressing his thoughts to ensure the Congress does not get a bad name.

Addressing a press conference after a brief meeting with his nephew at the family estate in Idupulapaya, Reddy said he had been to Delhi on his own and not at the instance of the party leadership to seek a berth in the ministry of Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy.

Jagan, as YSR’s son is known, resigned from both the Congress party and the Lok Sabha on Monday. His mother, Vijayalaxmi, also quit the party and as an MLA.

In his resignation letter, Jagan had quoted media reports stating that his uncle had gone to Delhi at the instance of Union minister Ghulam Nabi Azad. “Is it fair to lure my uncle YS Vivekananda Reddy, to Delhi, thereby paving the way for fissures in my family?” he said in his letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

“If aspiring for a ministerial berth is wrong, do pardon me,” said Vivekananda Reddy. He was in Delhi a couple of days back and had met Gandhi on Sunday. After the meeting, Reddy said the Congress leadership, particularly Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, always encouraged YSR and offered him coveted posts.

Meanwhile, state Congress president D Srinivas held a meeting of the party officer bearers to take stock of the situation following Jagan’s resignation.

He said there was no threat to the Congress government in the state.