Newsmaker | Jagan’s longtime critic, who is TDP MLA Raju who has accused him of attempted murder?

Ramakrishna Raju, who heads a power infrastructure development company, was elected YSRCP MP in 2019. Soon afterwards, his run-ins with the then Andhra CM began.

A former YSRCP MP from Narasapuram, Raju has a history of run-ins with Jagan even while he was in his party and moved to the TDP in April, just ahead of the elections in the state. (Wikipedia)

Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) chief Jagan Mohan Reddy finds himself accused of attempted murder in a case registered based on the complaint by Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MLA Kanumuru Raghu Ramakrishna Raju.

A former YSRCP MP from Narasapuram, Raju has a history of run-ins with Jagan even while he was in his party and moved to the TDP in April, just ahead of the elections in the state. In his complaint, Raju alleged that Andhra Pradesh CID officers illegally arrested him from Hyderabad in 2021 in a sedition case and did not produce him before a local court in Hyderabad to obtain a transit arrest warrant. Raju alleged that the officers assaulted him at Jagan’s behest. The arrest came a month after Raju petitioned a CBI special court in Hyderabad to cancel Jagan’s bail in a disproportionate assets case.

This was not Raju’s first run-in with Jagan. Throughout his time with the YSRCP, the two were repeatedly at loggerheads. It started months after Raju, who is the chairman of the power infrastructure development company Ind Barath Group, was elected to the Lok Sabha. At a press conference, he accused Jagan of being “autocratic” and not allowing the party’s legislators to function. He also accused senior party leader and Jagan’s advisor Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy of instigating people against him. As a result, Raju faced a lot of backlash from YSRCP workers and supporters.

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That year, the now TDP MLA again lashed out at Jagan over his decision to convert all Telugu-medium government schools to English. He alleged rampant corruption in the YSRCP government’s welfare schemes and targeted the Jagan government for taking “only cash” at alcohol stores. Raju’s constant attacks prompted the YSRCP to write to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla in July 2020 seeking his disqualification.

Things reached a tipping point in May 2021 with Raju’s arrest in the sedition case. He was accused of “promoting enmity between communities through hate speeches”. The arrest came a month after Raju told the CBI special court that Jagan had violated his bail conditions in the disproportionate assets case and could influence witnesses in the case.

In April 2023, Raju shot off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. accusing Jagan of “promoting Christianity” and “violating the Constitution”. “In Andhra Pradesh, constructive destruction of the Hindu temples is happening. There should be a Dharmik or Hindu commission, in line with Christian minorities or Muslim minorities, to address the issues. Though we are the majority, we are being treated like a minority,” he wrote.

Raju alleged that the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) board had waived the requirement of non-Hindus to declare themselves. “For the sake of one individual, they are changing the rules which have been in place for ages. Only the Karma Yogi, our honourable Prime Minister, shall address this issue.” he wrote.

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Raju quit the YSRCP this February, writing, “As the time has come for all of us to face the public probity and mandate, it will free both of us from this unsavoury association once and for all.’’ He added, “I have equally made laudable, positive and even more powerful efforts working for my constituency and its holistic development as well its constituents at Narsapuram … despite your hostility and malicious brutal acts to physically eliminate me.”

He joined the TDP in February and won the Undi Assembly seat in West Godavari district by 56,777 votes, defeating the YSRCP’s P V L Narasimha Raju.