Congress under no threat in Andhra, says spokesperson
By IANSTuesday, January 11, 2011
NEW DELHI - The Congress in Andhra Pradesh is under no threat, a party spokesperson said here Tuesday as former MP Jaganmohan Reddy sat on a daylong fast with thousands of supporters, including several Congress legislators and two MPs.
Putting “speculation to rest”, spokesperson Manish Tewari said: “The Congress government was never in any kind of a threat, is not in any threat and neither will be.”
Stating that “we are not here to criticise anybody”, Tewari told reporters: “Mr Jaganmohan Reddy is not a part of the Congress party.”
He added that questions related to Andhra Pradesh should be directed to the “appropriate person” — the general secretary in-charge of Andhra Pradesh.
Jagan, as the Andhra Pradesh leader is popularly known, resigned from the Congress and his Kadapa parliamentary seat after accusing the party leadership of trying to divide the family by luring his uncle Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy with a ministerial berth in the Andhra Pradesh cabinet.
Jagan has been on a collision course with the Congress since the leadership rejected his claim to the chief minister’s chair following the death of his father, the late chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, in a helicopter crash Sep 2, 2009. He moved the Election Commission last week for registering his newly-floated political party.
