AP Congress sceptical about Reddys8217; patch-up

HYDERABAD, Oct 22: Congressmen in Andhra Pradesh are no doubt happy that at least two of the many groups within the party in the State have...

HYDERABAD, Oct 22: Congressmen in Andhra Pradesh are no doubt happy that at least two of the many groups within the party in the State have come together. But they wonder how long the truce will last, for both the leaders, CWC member and former chief minister Kotla Vijayabhaskar Reddy and Cuddapah Lok Sabha member Y S Rajasekhar Reddy, have a long-standing grouse against each other.

Rajasekhar has been a dissident for over a decade and a half, more so during the Congress regime. It was during the reign of Vijayabhaskar Reddy that the differences between the two leaders grew. Rajashekhar has a lurking suspicion that Vijayabhaskar constantly kept coming in the way of his being inducted into the Union Cabinet under P V Narasimha Rao and the CWC member is convinced that Rajasekhar himself instigated an attack against him in the presence of the then Prime Minister at a meeting in Cuddapah. Slippers were hurled onto the dias when Vijayabhaskar rose to address the meeting organised by Rajasekhar.

To rub salt on the wounds, then PM Narasimha Rao said later that in public life, one must tolerate all insults. By then, a sulking Vijayabhaskar had already decided to quit and was set to submit his resignation to the Governor. But some of his old associates prevailed upon him to desist.

All that may now have been forgiven but there are still many among their followers who may not see eye-to-eye. Former minister JC Diwakar Reddy, for one, may not give in so easily. His supporters and even relatives have a long-standing feud with the Y S Reddy family. There have been instances of supporters of either crossing the border to wreak havoc on the rival8217;s property, agricultural farms and orchards just out of spite.

Rajasekhar seems to have mellowed down to a large extent, probably realising that he cannot keep fighting both his partymen as well as Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, his one-time chum. The growing differences reached a flashpoint during the Lok Sabha elections last year when Naidu gave Rajasekhar a run for his money. Having won an earlier LS election from Cuddapah with a record majority of over 4.50 lakh votes, Rajasekhar scraped through very narrowly.