70 MLAs will join Jagan soon: DL

Hyderabad: Is family welfare minister DL Ravindra Reddy moving closer to Kadapa MP YS Jagan Mohan Reddy? His remarks during an interaction with mediapersons in the Assembly lobbies on Tuesday lent credence to the rumours. Ravindra Reddy is learnt to have said that after the by-elections for the 17 Assembly seats, as many as 70 MLAs would join the Jagan camp.

 Ever since chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy clipped his wings and stripped him of the medical education portfolio, Ravindra Reddy has been seething with anger. Citing ill health, Ravindra Reddy ducked out of sight for some time but of late has been making statements that made one wonder if he was showing more than normal interest in Jagan.

Ravindra Reddy had been, for a very long time, a bitter critic of Jagan. After YSR’s demise, Ravindra Reddy wanted Jagan to meet him personally and seek his help in his political career. When nothing of the sort happened, Ravindra Reddy nursed a grudge against YSR’s scion.

In the Kadapa Lok Sabha by-election held in May last year, Ravindra Reddy contested against Jagan on Congress ticket. Though he suffered a humiliating defeat, he did not stop attacking him. In the course of time, his relations with Kiran Kumar Reddy too strained, particularly after the chief minister entrusted the ‘108’ emergency services to the GVK group much against his wish.

(IE, 07/03/12)