What would have made Rajya Sabha member KVP Ramachandra Rao express his displeasure openly over not keeping the photos of YS Rajasekhara Reddy in Gandhi Bhavan?
Though several leaders in the Congress are attacking the soul-mate of the late chief minister by alleging that Rao was covertly helping Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy with his latest utterances, loyalists of the late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy in the Congress hail this as an effort to keep the political legacy of the late chief minister with the ruling party only.
“There was nothing wrong with the remarks of Ramachandra Rao as far as keeping the photos of Y S Rajasekhara Reddy is concerned. Since Rao wanted the legacy of the late chief minister with the Congress, he pleaded with the party leadership not to disown Rajasekhara Reddy,” said MLC K Janardhan Reddy.
Meanwhile, Ramachandra Rao on Wednesday clarifed that what he tried on Tuesday was to draw the attention of the party to service YSR had done to the party. He said his focus was more on YSR rather than finding fault with the Congress for not keeping the picture of the late leader in Gandhi Bhavan. He made it clear that he only wanted to remind the audience the last wish of the late chief minister - to see Rahul Gandhi as the prime minister of India.
Some other leaders in the Congress, who are branded as the loyalists of Rajasekhara Reddy, say that by recalling the services of Rajasekhara Reddy during the swearing-in ceremony of the state committee of the Youth Congress on Tuesday, the Rajya Sabha member wanted to woo the youngsters, who still adore the late chief minister, to the ruling party.
“The moment Ramachandra Rao referred to Rajasekhara Reddy, the youth Congress leaders who participated in the meeting raised full-throttle slogans praising the late chief minister. It indicates that Rao tried to strike a chord with the youngsters in the meeting by referring to the last wish of Rajasekhara Reddy,” said a former minister from Coastal Andhra.
But Congress leaders who do not want to own YSR’s legacy are up in arms against KVP.
Deputy chief minister Damodar Rajanarasimha said there was nothing special about Rajasekhara Reddy to lift him sky high and that he was like any other Congress chief minister. The Congress was like a flowing river Ganga and several leaders take birth in it. Then, how could Rajasekhara Reddy stand apart from all those leaders, he questioned.
According to Rajanarasimha, it was not necessary to keep the photos of the late chief minister in Gandhi Bhavan as several decisions taken by the latter’s government had become controversial.
If at all photos of YSR had to be kept in Gandhi Bhavan, then photos of all the former chief ministers like T Anjaiah also should be hung there.
AICC spokesperson Renuka Choudary wondered why Ramachandra Rao had not asked about the photos of other former chief ministers.
MP Madhu Yashki Goud questioned the motive behind the latest utterances of Ramachandra Rao. Rao was the covert of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy in the Congress. In fact, it was Rao who was running the show in the YSRC, he claimed.