There is a strong belief in some quarters that it is a politically-motivated move to dig the past, unearth questionable land deals and project former chief minister late Y S Rajasekhar Reddy in “poor light.”
Rajasekhar Reddy’s widow Vijayalakshmi, taking strong exception to the manner in which the house committee had been set up, has sought an explanation from the government as to why only land allotments made during the period 2004-2009 when YSR, as the late leader was popularly known, was the chief minister were being examined. The YSR Congress Party, floated by his son and MP Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, has demanded that the terms of reference of the 15-member house committee be broadened to include land alienation decisions taken by the previous Telugu Desam Party (TDP) government as well.
In a letter to Assembly Speaker N Manohar, Vijayalakshmi, who is also honorary President of the YSR Congress Party, alleged that the committee had been constituted with the sole aim of maligning her husband as part of a strategy to “erase his political legacy.”
“If the probe has to be meaningful, it should cover lands allotted to various companies by the previous TDP government between 1994 and 2004 and also during the last two years of Congress rule. I have every reason to believe that this probe is aimed at tarnishing the image of my late husband in a desperate attempt to wean away the supporters of YSR Congress party,” she contends.
Interestingly, Jagan and his followers have alleged that a nexus exists between the ruling Congress and the main opposition Telugu Desam Party in this regard. “They have joined hands to tarnish the image of my father and to block my political career,” Jagan claims.
The young leader believes that by limiting the scope of the probe to cover YSR’s tenure, the government had exposed itself to the charge that its decision was biased, and that indeed there was a deep-rooted conspiracy to erase YSR’s image from public memory. All this is happening with directions from Delhi (Congress high command),” alleges Jagan.
The YSRC chief buttresses his argument stating that the TDP had stalled assembly proceedings demanding a house committee, and Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy readily accepts it without any debate. “If this is not a match-fixing, what else it is? They want to spread misinformation and harass me,” the Kadapa MP wonders.
Interestingly, the common thread running through the ongoing CBI investigations into corruption cases revolves around YSR and the decisions made during his tenure. The CBI is currently investigating three high-profile cases pertaining to illegal mining in Anantapur district by former Karnataka Minister Gali Janardhan Reddy and his associates, land scams and the alleged illegal assets of Jagan. In many ways, these high-profile cases appear to be interlinked. (source:P S Jayaram,Hyderabad Highlights)
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