Jaganmohan meets Sonia to clear the air over yatra

Kadapa MP YS Jaganmohan Reddy along with mother Vijayalakshmi and sister Sharmila met Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday to clear the air over his controversial ‘odarpu yatra’.

Kadapa MP YS Jaganmohan Reddy along with mother Vijayalakshmi and sister Sharmila met Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday to clear the air over his controversial ‘odarpu yatra’.

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The meeting came nearly a month after Gandhi had refused to meet Jaganmohan after he defied the party directive to abandon the yatra, which had triggered violence in Warangal district of the Telangana region.

The yatra, Jaganmohan has maintained, is aimed at consoling the family members of those who either committed suicide or died of shock following the death of his father and former Andhra CM YSR Reddy in a helicopter crash last year.

At the meeting, Vijayalakshmi requested Gandhi to allow Jaganmohan to go ahead with the yatra from July 8, YSR’s birth anniversary, from Srikakulam. She had written a letter to Gandhi on June 2, urging her to give the permission.

Vijayalakshmi assured Gandhi that the yatra would be undertaken at the local level so there is “no law and order problem”. She also regretted the violence triggered by the yatra.

Last month, the Congress had conveyed to Jaganmohan its disapproval of his campaign. The MP had then decided to postpone the yatra by a month.

The Congress is also mulling to “rehabilitate” Jaganmohan in the central government, a move, the party managers believe, will solve two purposes — give much-needed breathing space to CM Rosaiah to function independently and enable Jaganmohan to “mature politically”.