25 Andhra MLAs openly support Jagan's 2-day fast

NEW DELHI/HYDERABAD: With its 25 legislators openly supporting former Congress MP YS Jaganmohan Reddy’s two-day fast for Andhra Pradesh farmers, there is worry in the Congress camp over the longevity of the Kiran Kumar Reddy-led government.

Though the Congress high command has taken a strong note of its Andhra legislators joining the former Kadapa MP in Vijaywada, the party has refrained from issuing any warning to the rebel MLAs.

“No warning has been issued because it can further anger the legislators who seem to be gravitating towards Jaganmohan Reddy,” a senior party functionary said. He admitted that issuing a show-cause notice, or similar action would only aggravate the situation.

At present, Congress has 156 legislators in the 294-member Andhra Pradesh Assembly. If Jaganmohan manages to wean away 20-25 MLAs, the number of MLAs would fall below the halfway mark of 147. In such a scenario, Congress will have to ensure the backing of the Prajarajyam party, which has 18 MLAs.

It could also get support of Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen’s seven legislators. The party high command, however, is not inclined to convert the government into an alliance arrangement. A combative Jaganmohan told reporters in Vijayawada that the state government will not complete its full term. “There are three more years for the elections, but this government may lose the deposit much before that,” he said.

Addressing over 100,000 farmers and supporters on the banks of Krishna, the former Kadapa MP accused the government of dumping the pro-farmer policies of YSR who led the Congress twice to power in the state. Stating that “laksha deeksha” (fast by one lakh people) was only the beginning, Mr Jaganmohan said there would be many more such protests in the coming days.