Hyderabad:
Barely two days after Congress MP Y S Jaganmohan Reddy's controversial 'Odarpu yatra' was launched, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah - who was against the yatra - has told NDTV that Jagan needs proper advice. "Jagan is a young boy with a future. He needs proper advice," said K Rosaiah in an exclusive interview to NDTV.
(Read: Rosaiah asks Congressmen to skip Jagan's yatra)Thousands of people poured into the streets of Srikakulam to welcome Jaganmohan Reddy, as he arrived there as part of his yatra on July 8. After the huge response to the Jagan's yatra, which was started on his late father and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YSR Reddy's birth anniversary, Rosaiah said that Jagan can dream, aspire and try for the CM's post but there is a method to get it. (
Watch: Thousands greet YSR junior | Jagan's yatra in pics)"This is not a post to be captured by doing something. Jagan could have waited for some time and staked his claim," added the Andhra CM.
However, softening from his earlier stance, Rosaiah said, "It is not such a serious matter which will be seen as defiance by the Congress."
On the family member of MLAs and MPs seen by Jagan's side, Rosaiah said, "Family members of MLAs are not barred. Jagan is not an enemy, he is a member of the Congress, He is an MP.'' The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister stands by his decision to ask his Cabinet colleagues and party legislators to keep away from the yatra.
(Read blog by TS Sudhir: A rebel is born. YS Jagan)"Whether or not to take part in the yatra is an individual choice but if any minister, MLA or MLC indeed takes part in the yatra, it will be a clear violation of the high command," Rosaiah had told reporters on 7th July. (
Read: Congress 'not worried' about Jagan's yatra)
But Rosaiah told NDTV that he believed that his MLAs won't go with Jagan. "This is the advice given by the Congress party. I expect my friends to be disciplined," said Rosaiah.
During his yatra, Jagan was measured in his approach. "My father did not leave me orphaned. He left me with this huge family, the people of Andhra Pradesh,'' said Jagan. The crowd roared back with approval. (
Watch: Thousands greet YSR junior)
On record, Jagan and the Congress have stopped short of acknowledging the tour as an open act of defiance. But the revolt has been public - and with considerable impact, at least in this part of northcoastal Andhra Pradesh, where Jagan's father, YSR, had ended his 1400-kilometre padyatra in 2003, that catapulted him to the chief minister's chair a year later.
Jagan has described the tour as a series of condolence calls on families whose members died allegedly from the shock of hearing about YSR's death in a helicopter crash in September last year. But the Congress party has asked him twice now to call off the journey. In late May, the tour provoked violence when Jagan tried to enter the politically-volatile region of Telangana, which is upset that politicians like Jagan are not actively supporting its demand for a separate state. The riot and Jagan's arrest in Nalgonda district Mahbubnagar was followed by a quick journey to Delhi where Jagan met with Sonia Gandhi. He was asked to stop the tour. (
Read: Rosaiah asks Congressmen to skip Jagan's yatra)
Earlier this week, the party objected again when Jagan said his road show would continue on his father's birth anniversary. Party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi warned Jagan "not to cross the Lakshman Rekha."
(Read: Congress to Jagan: Don't cross 'Lakshman rekha')Congress was nervous about the Jagan's yatra but party leaders can take solace from the fact that none of its MLAs or MPs from the Srikakulam district attended Jagan's meeting. But it was their family members who made the arrangements for this leg of the tour. Nobody wants to openly take sides, just yet, in the battle between Jagan and his party.
But the attempt is to convey that Jagan enjoys both mass support and political loyalty. Srikakulam Cooperative society president G.Krishnamurthy declares: "Being within the Congress, we will support Jagan. If Jagan is forced to form a separate party, we will go with Jagan."