YSR's family 'stand divided' on Kadappa polling day
Even the worst political rivals greet each other when they come face-to-face during polling. But it was a different story Sunday in Kadapa, where the family members of late Andhra Pardesh chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy are locked in a bitter poll tussle.
YSR Congress Party founder and leader Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy is contesting the Kadapa Lok Sabha seat while Y.S. Vijayalaxmi, his mother, is seeking re-election to the assembly from Pulivendula, where she is taking on her brother-in-law Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy.
The family not only avoided exchanging pleasantries but also did not see eye-to-eye literally during Sunday's polling.
Vijayalaxmi and Vivekananda Reddy avoided eye contact even when they almost bumped into each other at a polling station in Pulivendula.
She was entering the booth while Congress candidate Vivekananda was leaving after casting his vote.
At another polling booth, Jagan's wife Bharathi looked the other way when Vivekananda Reddy, with folded hands, approached the women voters standing in the queue where she was also waiting.
Over 65 per cent electors cast their votes in the Kadapa Lok Sabha and Pulivendula assembly constituencies. Barring minor incidents, voting was peaceful, officials said.
Though the polling process came to an end at 5 p.m., the election authorities allowed voters standing in queues outside voting centres to exercise their franchise.
Even on the polling day Jagan blamed Congress president Sonia Gandhi for causing a split in the family by wooing his uncle Vivekananda Raddy with a ministerial berth.
YSR's younger brother was made a state minister in November last year, triggering resignations by Jagan and Vijayalaxmi as MP and state legislator respectively. They also quit the Congress party.
Vivekananda Reddy, who quit as minister before entering the poll fray, has vowed to stay in the Congress party till his last breath.
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