With the Congress high command making up its mind to take disciplinary action against the rebel Member of Parliament Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, his camp followers have stepped up their counter attacks.
Vicky Nanjappa analyses the future of the Congress party in Andhra Pradesh in the aftermath of Jaganmohan Reddy's resignation.
Counting of votes for the high-profile by-elections to the Kadapa Lok Sabha and Pulivendula constituencies in Andhra Pradesh commenced in Kadapa on Friday morning amidst tight security.
September 2 may be the day of the final showdown between Jaganmohan Reddy and the Congress high command
After meeting Congress president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi on Friday, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah expressed reservations about the controversial yatra being undertaken by party Member of Parliament Jaganmohan Reddy.
The worst flood in Andhra Pradesh, which left a trail of death and destruction, has dampened the campaign to make late Andhra Chief Minister YS Rajashekhara Reddy's son Jaganmohan Reddy the Chief Minister and helped interim CM K Rosaiah to consolidate his position.
With a Sukhoi fighter aircraft, a special air craft from Indian Space Research Organization and another low flying aircraft of the state government completing a comprehensive aerial survey of Nallamalla forest area to find missing Andhra Pradesh CM Y S Rajashekhara Reddy's helicopter on Wednesday night and gathering crucial data including the photographs, focus of the search operation on Thursday will move to the ground.
'Jagan is not in favour of floating a new party. He has decided to wait patiently and see how things will unfold in the days to come., says suspended Congress leader Ambati Rambabu, one of Jagan's closest aides.
Gadikota Srikanth Reddy, Congress MLA from Kadapa in this interview with rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa, says that it is a wrong image that is being portrayed in the media that the Congress in AP is against Jagan.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajashekhara Reddy's twin-engined Bell 430 AP helipcopter took off at 8.45 am on Wednesday and was scheduled to land at Chitoor district at 10.45 am. However, it soon lost radio contact and has been untraceable, ever since.
All India Congress Committee chief Sonia Gandhi has taken a conscious decision of being neutral to Andhra Pradesh politics in the wake of the sudden demise of its chief minister Y S Rajashekhara Reddy, and wait for a three-member committee to brief her. Till such time, she is not likely to meet any leader from the state.
Who will take over the mantle of the Congress in Andhra Pradesh? This is the big question in the event of the death of charismatic leader Dr Y S Rajashekhara Reddy.
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Thursday formally announced the death of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and four others in a helicopter crash.The wreckage was found by Air Force helicopters at 8.30 am on a hillock, which is 8 to 9 km from Atmakur, he said."The bodies are still lying on the hillock and all efforts are being made to retrieve them. I don't know how long the process will take," said Chidambaram.
'Once a pilot enters into a cumino nimbus cloud, the aircraft gets sucked in and is forced downwards. There is very little that a pilot can do in such a situation.'
Late Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajashekhara Reddy's home in Hyderabad was crowded to the brim and overflowing with grief.
'Since the two successive drubbings of the Congress have rung the alarm bells about the party's future, the need to chart a new course cannot be delayed any further,' says Amulya Ganguli.
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