Jagan alleges ‘political conspiracy’ to divide his family

He sought support and blessings from his supporters to take on the “mighty” Congress,which he left late last month.

On Tuesday,the 37-year-old son of late Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S R Reddy announced plan to launch his own political party in 45 days that would safeguard the “Telugu pride” and “self-esteem”.

Days after quitting Congress and Lok Sabha,Jagan claimed that the Congress would be “wiped out” in the state in the next three years.

Amid a stand-off with the Congress leadership,Jagan had resigned from his Lok Sabha seat and announced his decision to quit the party alleging that the Congress “humiliated” his family and tried to drive a “wedge” in it.

His mother Vijayamma,who is an MLA from Pulivendula constituency,also quit her post and the party.

Thrust into political limelight after the death of his father YSR in an air crash last year,Jagan never hid his ambition to become the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh,fuelling trouble for both the faction-ridden state Congress unit and party high command with his defiant attitude.

From a businessman to a Lok Sabha MP from his family pocketborough of Kadapa,his rise was meteoric — thanks to his father’s legacy and his popularity in Andhra Pradesh.

Called ‘Jagan Anna’ by his followers,he drew crowds and used his powerful media,a 24-hour news channel and a mass circulation newspaper,to propagate his views and attack the Rosaiah government that took charge after YSR’s death.

There was a campaign to install him as the chief minister after his father’s death on September 2,2009. Jagan also never said publicly that he was not in the race to succeed YSR.

A successful businessman who built a media empire in just five years,Jaganmohan wanted instant results. His impatience reflected in his open use of his media to flay the functioning of the Rosaiah government and siding with TDP MPs in Parliament against the formation of a separate Telangana state.

After getting ample hints that the Congress high command is in no mood to anoint him as YSR’s successor,Jagan undertook the controversial ‘Odarpu Yatra’ to console the families of those who died or allegedly committed suicide after hearing the news of the death of his father.

When he decided to tour sensitive Telangana region,the high command asked him not to do so fearing a backlash. But Jagan went ahead with the yatra and reached Mahabubnagar. When violence erupted there,he was forced to return to Hyderabad.

From then,Jagan was defiant and just met Congress chief Sonia Gandhi once after that.

He defied her directives,went ahead with the ‘Odarpu Yatra’ in July 2010 and has been avoiding Delhi since then.

His Sakshi channel even launched an attack against Sonia Gandhi,Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Congress.

Before entering politics too,Jagan had his fair share of controversies. The allotment of 487 acres of land in March 2007 to Raghuram Cements,which had Jagan as one of its directors,was criticised by Opposition parties.

Jagan tops the list of taxpayer politicians in 2009-10. He had paid Rs 2.92 lakh tax for the financial year 2008-09 but Rs 6.6 crore advance tax in the first six months of this year,projecting a tax outgo of Rs 22 crore with his personal income expected to cross Rs 70 crore in 2009-10.