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A Kadapa district court has issued an order restraining the leaders of the Opposition NDA – comprising the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Jana Sena Party (JSP) and BJP – and the Congress from making derogatory comments against Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) chief Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy and the party’s Kadapa MP and candidate Y S Avinash Reddy in the murder case of Jagan’s uncle Y S Vivekananda Reddy, brother of ex-CM late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy.
The court directed the Opposition leaders — including Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Y S Sharmila, Jagan’s sister, TDP national president N Chandrababu Naidu, TDP national general secretary Nara Lokesh, state BJP chief Purandeswari and JSP president Pawan Kalyan — to desist from making defamatory comments, particularly ordering them to refrain from alleging that Avinash, Jagan’s cousin, had “killed” his uncle Vivekananda Reddy and that Jagan was “shielding” him.
The court’s injunction on Thursday came after Kadapa Mayor and YSRCP leader K Suresh Babu filed a plea claiming the Opposition leaders’ allegations were “irreversibly” damaging the political and personal reputation of the YSRCP leaders, especially during the current election campaign, while the trial in the murder case has been pending in a special CBI court at Nampally in Hyderabad in Telangana. Andhra Pradesh is heading for simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly polls on May 13.
In her order, Judge G Sridevi said, “It was prima facie evident that the respondents made scurrilous and defamatory attacks on Mr Jagan and Mr Avinash Reddy, unmindful of the fact that every accused in a criminal case was presumed to be innocent until proven guilty. Besides, it was to be noted that Mr Jagan was never arrayed as an accused in the pending case.”
She also ordered that the respondents should remove the objectionable remarks from all media platforms, refrain from making unverified statements, maintain decent levels of public discourse and strictly adhere to the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).
The case goes back to the eve of the 2019 synchronised Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in the state, when the then Kadapa MP Vivekananda Reddy was found dead, in March 2019, under mysterious circumstances in his house in Pulivendula. Initially, the cause of death was ascertained as heart attack but later the then TDP government constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the case, which was later taken on by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The central agency has filed a chargesheet in the case and in a supplementary chargesheet named Avinash as an accused.
The long-standing political controversy in the state over this murder case had intensified after the Supreme Court transferred its trial to a special CBI court in Hyderabad in November 2022.
In the run-up to the current polls, both the NDA and Congress had been raking up the Vivekananda Reddy murder case to slam the Jagan government. Sharmila, who is contesting the Kadapa seat as the Congress candidate, kicked off her campaign with her cousin Sunitha, Vivekananda Reddy’s daughter, by her side, accusing Jagan of “protecting” Avinash in the case.
The Congress camp alleged that the YSRCP approaching court over the matter was a sign that the “ruling party was rattled and wanted the truth to be hidden”. “Why would anyone move court if they are not involved? The case must be expedited and the culprits must be brought to the book as soon as possible,” a party leader from Kadapa said.
AP Congress media chairman and ex-MP Marreddy Tulasi Reddy said, “The matter is a topic of discussion in almost every household as the YSRCP had raked it up ahead of the 2019 polls. By moving court now, they have nothing to gain,” he said.
In its electioneering so far, the TDP, too, had extensively used the case to target Jagan and even ran a social media campaign.
The YSRCP has officially refused to react to the Kadapa court’s order, but its leaders said it will help the party. “Our leader Jagan and Avinash were being subjected to unwarranted attacks by the Opposition over the issue. Now that their attacks would stop, it will leave the TDP and Congress with no issues to take the government on,” a YSRCP leader said.
The TDP said it respects the court’s ruling and that its legal team was studying it. A senior party leader close to Chandrababu Naidu questioned the YSRCP’s “hypocrisy”. “Ahead of the 2019 polls, it was the YSRCP who raked up the issue. Now, they are the ones approaching court over it. Does it now show their double standards?” she asked.
Another senior TDP leader said that party leader M Ravindranath Reddy, also known as “B Tech” Ravi, who is the party’s candidate against Jagan in Pulivendula, was “falsely implicated” in the Vivekananda case. “Ravi was ready to take a polygraph test and it was our government which had constituted the SIT as we want people to know the truth,” he said.
The TDP claimed the court’s order would not impact its campaign. “We do not do politics over corpses and do not use such cases to do our politics. We are mainly targeting the Jagan government over its mismanagement of funds and extensive corruption,” said a party leader.
However, several TDP workers say the order would have have some impact on the party’s campaign on the simmering row. “The court order may be negative optics for the Opposition party. It is likely that people may think the TDP was wrong in targeting Jagan over the issue,” said a party activist from Srikakulam.
The Congress camp said the order would not affect the party’s electioneering. “We have many more issues to take on the Jagan government. Our manifesto promises special category status for the state, a promise which both the TDP and YSRCP have not managed to fulfil,” a party leader said.
