Jagan’s supporters attack Congress offices

HYDERABAD - Protests against the ruling Congress broke out in parts of Andhra Pradesh Monday after late chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy’s son Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy resigned from the party and from parliament.

Supporters of Jaganmohan Reddy, who represented the Lok Sabha’s Kadapa constituency, attacked Congress offices in Kadapa, Anantapur and Chittoor districts while dozens of lower-rank Congress leaders resigned from the party.

Raising slogans against the Congress, supporters of Jaganmohan Reddy, popularly known as Jagan, attacked the Congress office in Anantapur and tore posters of party president Sonia Gandhi.

Carrying pictures of Rajasekhara Reddy and Jagan, protesters also damaged the Congress office in Kadapa. They were seen beating pictures of Gandhi with footwear.

The supporters of the young leader also set afire pictures of party leaders and trampled upon the party flag at Tirupati.

In Hyderabad, hundreds of Jagan’s supporters gathered outside his residence in Banjara Hills to express solidarity with him. They raised slogans in his praise and against the Congress and Gandhi.

When Jagan emerged on the balcony of his house and waved at them, crowds cheered him.

Jagan would visit Idupulapaya in Kadapa district to pay tributes to his father at his memorial.

Meanwhile, president of Kadapa unit of the Congress Suresh Babu has resigned in Jagan’s support. Dozens of party leaders in various districts and members of local bodies also have resigned to show solidarity with their leader.

While resigning earlier in the day, Jagan alleged that he and his family were insulted by the party on several occasions since the death of his father. He said he had no other option but to quit the party.

“Why did you create division in the family? What crime had we committed?” Jagan asked in a letter Sonia Gandhi, alleging that the party lured his uncle Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy away with a ministerial post.

Jagan’s mother Vijayalakshmi also quit the Congress as well as her Andhra Pradesh assembly seat.

Jagan has been running a defiant campaign since the Congress leadership turned down his claim for the chief minister’s post after his father’s death last year.

Jagan’s move to quit the party came at a time when the leadership was planning to take disciplinary action against him for using his Sakshi television channel and media network to attack Gandhi.