A day after his thumping victory in the Kadapa by-elections in Andhra Pradesh, late chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy's son, YS Jaganmohan Reddy, challenged the Congress to call a snap poll in the state.
“This is my challenge. If you (Congress) are so confident, call for an election and seek votes in the name of Sonia and Rahul. I will approach the voters carrying photograph of my father. Let us see who will get the public mandate,” he said in Kadapa.
He had projected the by-poll as a battle between Sonia Gandhi and the legacy of his late father, who was killed in a helicopter crash in September 2009. Reddy, who floated the YSR Congress Party when he quit the Congress last year following months of dissidence, retained the Kadapa Lok Sabha seat with a record margin of over 500,000 votes on Friday.
Pooh-poohing chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy's assertion that the result had little implications outside Kadapa, Reddy said, “The public mood is uniform across the state and both the Congress and the opposition Telugu Desam Party will lose their deposit money in case of a snap poll.”
Meanwhile, Congress legislators Adinarayana Reddy and G Srikanth Reddy clarified that they have not left the Reddy camp. The two are among the five MLAs against whom the Congress has initiated the process of disqualification for campaigning for Reddy in Kadapa. “I have always been with Jagan and will be with him,” Adinarayana Reddy said. Srikanth Reddy also denied plans of going back to the Congress fold.
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, Congress legislators Adinarayana Reddy and G Srikanth Reddy clarified that they have not left the Reddy camp. The two are among the five MLAs against whom the Congress has initiated the process of disqualification for campaigning for Reddy in Kadapa. “I have always been with Jagan and will be with him,” Adinarayana Reddy said. Srikanth Reddy also denied plans of going back to the Congress fold.
{{/usCountry}}CM Reddy discusses bypoll result
The Congress begun the post-mortem of the Kadapa and Pulivendula by-election results with chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy meeting losing candidates D L Ravindra Reddy and Y S Vivekananda Reddy.
Ravindra Reddy, currently the State Health Minister, lost to YSR Congress party president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy by 5.45 lakh votes. Vivekananda faced the ignominy of losing to his sister-in-law Y S Vijayalakshmi, who too got elected to the state Assembly by a record margin of 81,373 votes. Sources said the CM is now contemplating to get Vivekananda, younger brother of YSR Reddy, “nominated” to the Legislative Council through the governor.