The importance of the forthcoming bypolls to the 18 Assembly and the Nellore Lok Sabha segments for the ministers, particularly those who were not in the late YSR Cabinet can be gauged by the intensity of their attacks against Kadapa MP Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and late Chief Minister.
Minor irrigation minister T.G. Venkatesh on Sunday openly declared that “Vote for Jagan in the bypolls would automatically lead to division of the state”. Ministers N. Raghuveera Reddy and S. Sailajanath criticised the controversial decisions of the YSR Cabinet on Vanpic and bauxite mining, holding him responsible for benefiting Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy. Though confusion still exists in the party regarding the late YSR’s link to the alleged corruption of Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy, the new ministers seem to have decided to paint the YSR regime with the same brush.
When the SC issued notices to six ministers and eight IAS officers regarding the issuance of 26 controversial GOs, the new ministers and some of the young MLAs thought it was an opportune moment to bring up the YSR link while hitting out at Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy. It was also the right time, they felt, to simultaneously 'disown' those ministers against whom notices were served if they were implicated for unduly favouring Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy and YSR. The young MLAs, led by K. Laxma Reddy, communicated this to Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, who assured them that he would take up the issue with the party high command. But that does not seem to have taken place yet.
Sources close to the CM say that if the party leadership decides to disown the six ministers, including Botsa Satyanarayana, it may lead to instability in the government. This was evident in Saturday's coordination committee meeting. When the new ministers and legislators pointed to the difficulty in not linking YSR to Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy's alleged corruption, both the CM and the PCC chief told them that the high command would provide clarity soon.
This, in a way, gave freedom to the ministers not named by the SC to start criticising both YSR and Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy. Once the ministers and IAS officials send their replies to the notices they have received, it will be clear whether they are going to own up or blame YSR alone for bringing pressure on them.