Jagan's Tainted Image Keeps Delhi Leaders at Bay

YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, who was desparate to garner support from the leaders of all the opposition parties, made a four-day trip to the national capital. But during this trip, he failed to garner any support, the sources said.

As per the sources, YSR Congress president Jagan Mohan Reddy failed to impress the national leaders that he was being politically targeted by the CBI. In particular, the two national parties, Congress and BJP, were unmoved by his gestures and pleas. Even though Jagan could get an audience with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday on the pretext of presenting a memorandum on farmers' issues, he failed to convince opposition leader Sushma Swaraj to grant him an appointment.

Even, leaders like Mulayam Singh Yadav, Sharad Pawar, Laloo Prasad Yadav and Farooq Abdullah, all of whom Jagan had managed to meet, were cautious enough not to reveal anything to the media regarding their meetings since Jagan is facing charges of corruption in the state. Also, the MPs who are his late father YSR’s protégés did not meet him reportedly due to his 'tainted' image. "Jagan may talk about lack of evidence and political vendetta in the CBI case but many in the party, including some of his loyalists are convinced that his meteoric rise in the business is something to do with his father's position as the chief minister," said a Congress MP.

Jagan even talked about offering support to the UPA government in future also, but that too did not create much flutter in Delhi, say the sources. Some MPs who are in touch with party general secretary Rahul Gandhi said Jagan's BJP connections were well known to the high command. In the letters he circulated to political leaders in Delhi, he charged the Congress with launching a political witch hunt against him after YSR's death. While his mother Vijayalakshmi equated Jagan's case with Bofors and asked why Congress president Sonia Gandhi's house was not searched and why were the family members not questioned by the CBI, the Kadapa MP criticised the PM in the 2G spectrum case. "In this background, is it not possible to take his offer of surrender seriously," said Nizamabad MP Madhu Yashki Goud.