Jagan's mother to campaign for party in AP by-polls

YSR Congress chief Jagan Mohan Reddy's arrest comes ahead of an extremely crucial by-poll in Andhra Pradesh, but the party is still confident of a win in the by-polls, and say that his mother would now lead them. Vicky Nanjappa reports

The 'Jagan wave' had become so strong that it had the Congress and the Telugu Desam Party worried and his arrest on Sunday would come as a breather to them.

Jagan was YSR Congress' trump card, and he looked as though he could single-handedly take his party into the assembly with a majority. However, the first big test for the party was the by-polls to the 18 seats in assembly and one in the Lok Sabha.

It appeared as though the YSR Congress would have hogged a major share in these elections which in turn would have meant that it would have been an embarrassment for the Congress.

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Now with Jagan behind bars, his mother Vijayamma would lead the party in his absence. YSR Congress spokesperson Ambati Rambabu, who was expelled from the Congress a year ago, told rediff.com that Vijayamma will lead the party.

"Our party will not turn its face away from the public, and we will continue to serve the people of Andhra Pradesh. Vijayamma will enter the field now and we will ensure that she is ably supported. We are still confident that we will win the elections," he said.

"The arrest of our leader is part of a larger conspiracy and it is undemocratic in nature. It just shows the lengths people can go up to in order to nurture political ill will," he added.

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Vijayamma has really not been in the midst of the people as yet for this campaign. She is expected to commence campaigning from Monday onwards, said a YSR Congress source.

Jagan too had anticipated his arrest and prior to his questioning by the Central Bureau of Investigation two days ago, as he had requested his party workers to help his mother.

Jagan's arrest has upset the YSR Congress party's campaign. The next couple of days would largely revolve round Jagan and his arrest. Jagan's team is already planning on moving the CBI court seeking his bail, a source said.

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He is likely to be produced before the court on Monday morning, and the CBI is may ask for an extension of his custody. "It would be more fruitful to interrogate him while he is in our custody, since the last three days of questioning has yielded nothing," said a source.

"He was evasive and did not cooperate," added the source.

Meanwhile, Hyderabad and the rest of Andhra Pradesh have been put on very high alert following the arrest. Rambabu said that there are over 100 party workers who are in the city to extend their support to their leader.

"However we have all appealed to them to remain calm and not to resort to any violence," he added.

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