Congress rebel and Kadapa MP Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy is under watch but the Congress high command is unlikely to discipline him right now. The party’s strategy appears to be to ignore him so that his following of party legislators from Andhra Pradesh dwindles before taking any action.

The Congress’ central disciplinary action committee met here on Friday but did not discuss the Jagan issue at all. Besides, AICC leader in charge of Andhra Pradesh M. Veerappa Moily, too, has not been asked to give a report on Mr Jaganmohan’s attack on the party leadership through his Telugu TV channel.
Well placed sources said the AICC does not want the new chief minister, Mr N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, to face any problem due to any action against the son of the late CM Y.S. Rajsekhara Reddy.
The Congress high command is treading cautiously on handling the Jagan issue knowing well that the fallout may not remain confined to the rebel leader if the latter is either suspended or expelled because the party and its government is on the defensive on the issue of a separate Telan-gana state. It is assessing whether action against Mr Jaganmohan may lead to political realignments in the state.
A section of the Congress feels Mr Jaganmohan could be controlled through his family members if they are inducted into the state Cabinet. CM Kiran Kumar Reddy, meanwhile, said, “Jaganmohan Reddy is a Congress MP. He will be treated like one, like any other Congress MP. I take this opportunity to seek cooperation from all party MPs in the state.”
Replying to a volley of questions about Mr Jaganmohan and his recent activities, the CM said the Kadapa MP is the son of “our leader”, the late YSR, who spent most of his life “in the Congress family”. He parried questions on whether the Congress high command was scared of Mr Jaganmohan.
Senior party leader from Andhra Pradesh and Union minister S. Jaipal Reddy on Saturday said the Kadapa MP was violating party discipline but added it was for the high command to decide any action against him.
The late YSR’s brother, Mr Y.S. Vivekanand Reddy, who is apparently keen on getting into the state Cabinet, claimed Mr Jaganmohan would soon express regret to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi over his channel’s attacks.
Meanwhile, Mr Jaganmohan held consultations with his supporters in Hyderabad and a spokesman for his camp termed Mr Jaipal Reddy’s statement as unfortunate. “Everybody knows that the channel is owned by him (Jagan) and the channel is run for his own politics apparently. The channel is being misused to weaken the party. It is very undesirable,” Mr Jaipal Reddy had said while responding to questions about the programmes aired by Telugu channel Sakshi, which had last week attacked Mrs Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Congress party and took swipes at AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Friday.
Mr Reddy said while YSR was a “tremendously loyal Congressman”, his young son, “otherwise dynamic, seems to be confused”. He said it was not correct for the young MP to allow his channel to be misused against the Congress. “Naturally the decision has to be taken at the national level of the party,” he said, responding to queries.
Congress spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed said, “As per our information, this (the content telecast by the news channel) was not news but views and people think that when views are expressed in the media then the role of management is very much clear (sic).”
Mr Ahmed, however, evaded a direct reply on whether the Congress will take any action against the rebel Kadapa MP. “The party had sought a report when the first telecast (criticising the Congress president and the PM) was made . It is natural that any decision will be taken on the basis of the report. But anything on this can be said only by the AICC in-charge of Andhra Pradesh, M. Veerappa Moily,” he said.
Mr Ahmed said the party leadership is seized of the entire matter but evaded questions on whether Congress was afraid of taking action against Jagan.
The installation of a new CM is part of the strategy to neutralise Mr Jaganmohan. Another aspect would be to induct Mr Vivekanand Reddy into the state Cabinet. Mr Vivekanand Reddy said every Congressman was hurt by the attacks aired by the channel but that the Kadapa MP could not be held directly responsible for the content aired as he is not the editor.