Post date: Aug 15, 2011 12:27:57 PM
Facing the heat over the probe into his alleged illegal wealth, Jaganmohan Reddy hit out at the Congress and said that his father’s legacy is being tarnished and that the Centre has unleashed a witch hunt against him.
Speaking to a news channel on Monday, Jagan - dubbed as India’s richest MP- said that he is helpless, alone and young and is being targeted for resigning from the party. “I was shown I-T notices after the death of my father,” rued Jagan.
Jagan is the son of Congress stalwart and former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, late YS Rajashekhara Reddy who died in a helicopter crash in September 2009.
Taking on the Congress, Jagan said that his father’s reputation is being deliberately tarnished. He said, “This is what you do to a man who was with you for 30 years? You are attacking a dead man, this is witch hunting.”
When asked what message he would like to give to Sonia Gandhi, Jagan only said, “God is watching.”
On the future course of action, the Kadap MP, who had launched YSR Congress after he fell out with the grand old party, said, “We are not averse to supporting any party other than BJP. We have no issues with anybody else; let it be Sonia, Sharad Pawar or Mamata Banerjee.” He also alleged that the Centre is doing injustice to Andhra Pradesh by not allocating powerful ministries to MPs from the state. “Why should we not get agriculture ministry when God so blesses us with numbers? Why should we not get railways when God so blesses us with the numbers?” “These people have mentally made up their mind that somebody who has left Congress can’t come to power,” he added. With regards to the allegations that he had influenced key policy decisions during his father’s tenure as the chief minister, Jagan said, “Get one single bite from any IAS officer that Jagan called up and told them to do something. You should ask the likes of Ahmed Patel (Sonia’s political secretary) about how many times they called up the CM to influence some decisions here.”