YSR Congress begins 20-month ‘havan’ to make Jaganmohan Reddy the CM in 2019

YSR Congress chief Jagan and his family have set aside their Christian faith and have started following Hindu rituals as the party invokes divine help to enable him to become Andhra Pradesh chief minister.

With just around 20 months left for the assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, the YSR Congress party is on an overdrive to invoke the pantheon of Hindu gods so that its leader Y S Jaganmohan Reddy can wrest power from the Telugu Desam Party and become chief minister.

A group of priests blessing YSR Congress president YS Jaganmohan Reddy at his residence recently.(HT Photo)

The YSR Congress has embarked on a massive ‘havan’ to appease the Hindu gods for its victory in 2019 elections. Organised by party general secretary Aarimalla Varaprasad Reddy, the havan began at Snehapuri Colony on the outskirts of Hyderabad on July 29 with Jagan’s close aide and party’s official spokesman Bhumana Karunakar Reddy taking ‘sankalpam’ (vow) on behalf of the party president.

“The yagam will conclude only after the completion of the election process in 2019. So, it is going to be a non-stop marathon yagam for more than 20 months. The main objective of the yagam is to seek the divine blessings for Jaganmohan Reddy to become the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, besides the welfare of the people of the state,” Varaprasad Reddy told Hindustan Times.

As many as nine Ritwiks (Vedic scholars) under the auspices of renowned priest Nallapeddi Siva Rama Prasad Sarma went to the residence of Jagan a few days ago to bless him with divine powers to win the next elections, before commencing the yagam.

“The Vedic rituals mainly comprise Maha Rudra Sahita Chandi Yagam, Maha Vidya Parayana Homam, Pratyangira Parayana Homam, Maha Sudershana Yagam, besides Ganapathi Homam regularly,” Reddy said. “The rituals start with Rudrabhisekham early in the morning, followed by a series of homams later in the day.”

The ongoing homam is considered to be the longest such Vedic rituals performed by any political leader or party. In December 2015, Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao performed Ayutha Chandi Yagam at his farmhouse in Erravelli village in then Medak district (now Siddipet district) for 15 days, which attracted nation-wide attention.

Reddy, however, refused to divulge the expenditure being incurred on the marathon yagam for the success of Jagan. “It is being organised on behalf of YSR Congress party. So, anybody who wishes success for the party can donate funds or material for the yagam. Any party leader can participate in the yagam,” he said, adding that Jagan himself would be attending the yagam for a day before he embarks on his 3,000 km long padayatra from October 27.

And in line with the party’s quest for divine help, Jagan and his family seem to have set aside their Christian faith and have started following Hindu rituals.

While Jagan’s mother and former MLA Y S Vijayalakshmi, who always holds a copy of the Bible in her hand, went on a piligrimage to Kailash and Manasarovar with her brother Ravindranath Reddy recently, Jagan himself is going around the Hindu seers like Tridandi Chinna Jeeyar Swamy, seeking their blessings for his success in the next elections.

He even performed ‘pinda pradaan’ for his father late Y S Rajasekhar Reddy, former chief minister, during Godavari and Krishna Pushkarams held in 2015 and 2016, which he had never done in the past because of his faith in Christianity.

Jagan’s political rivals, however, attribute his pro-Hindu rituals despite being a Christian, to his latest affinity towards the Bharatiya Janata Party. “By resorting to such yagams and other rituals, Jagan is trying to appease the BJP for an alliance. If he can achieve power by performing yagams, where is the need for him to go on padayatra to reach out to people?” asked CPI state secretary K Ramakrishna.