The party which rose like the tide of a sea is now turbulent. Several top leaders who stood in support of the family had turned dissidents because of the wrong handling of the party by other leaders. Senior leaders who were worried by the dissidence were hoping Jagan would come out and set things rights. Now as it became clear that he would not be able to come out at least for the next four months, the party is in a quandary. The statement of CBI lawyer Ashok Bhan that the agency could even ask for extension of time for investigation caused further anxiety to all concerned.
Now it has become necessary for Jagan’s mother Vijayamma and sister Sharmila to ensure that the morale of the party cadres would not be down. It should be said that both the women are exceptionally courageous. They never came out of the house as long as Dr. Y S Rajasekhara Reddy was alive. As he was a towering personality, he managed everything for the family and the women confined themselves to the household.
However despite their personal grief after his tragic death in the helicopter crash and the arrest of Jagan, the two women displayed exemplary courage and enthused the party cadres.
Though they never gave public speeches earlier, they could make millions of people spell bound with their speeches and win elections.
Now how the party would fare would depend on the endurance of these two women. They should first compose themselves, overcome their own personal grief, if the cadres’ morale was to be upheld. Unfortunately people like Sajjala Rama Krishna Reddy have started roughing up senior and strong leaders like Konda Surekha and her husband Murali. Sajjala Rama Krishna Reddy was a journalist who worked earlier in newspapers like Udayam, before joining Sakshi as the Managing Editor as his brother Diwakar Reddy has been with Jagan in some of his business ventures. Rama Krishna Reddy of Kadapa district has no knowledge of Telangana region and its politics. How he was made in-charge of the Telangana region where the party is not strong is not known. He has been mishandling party affairs. How Rama Krishna Reddy chose to make a new entrant to politics (and the party as well) like TV anchor Rani Rudrama Devi an important leader in Warangal district to the unhappiness of die-hard loyalist of the family like Konda Surekha is unimaginable. Surekha quit the cabinet as soon as YSR died as she wanted Jagan to be the Chief Minister. Party losing such a loyalist is unthinkable.
Admitting Dadi Veerabhadra Rao who has been leveled most serious allegations against YSR and Jagan is also seen as another wrong move. It is in this context that the party hurt a senior and strong leader like Konatala Rama Krishna in Visakhapatnam district. Rama Krishna was a Parliament member and a minister in the YSR cabinet. He is economically strong. He has helped the party in the earlier by-elections. It is being said that choosing a comparatively weaker leader like Dadi Veerabhadra Rao and causing unhappiness to Konatala was a wrong move. It is in this context that leaders of both the YSR Congress and their opponents – Congress and TDP were discussing if Vijayamma and Sharmila could set all these things right and lead the party towards the 2014 elections.
