The surprising visit of Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi to Chanchalguda jail to call on YSR Congress president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy on Tuesday raised many an eyebrow.

Owaisi’s statement he had gone to the jail to discuss the Presidential elections issue with Jagan and seek his party support to the candidature of Pranab Kumar Mukherjee seems to have not many takers.

First of all, there is no need for Owaisi to lobby for Jagan as there were no indications that he was deputed by the UPA to seek Jagan’s support.

Secondly, Owaisi could have first talked to Jagan’s mother Vijayalakshmi on this issue and asking her to take up the issue in the party. But going to jail only to discuss the Presidential polls issue does not sound believable.

Inquiries revealed that the Congress high command might have sought the help of Owaisi to negotiate with Jagan party on returning to the Congress fold.

After the latest debacle in the by-elections, the high command has realized that there is no way the party can revive in the Seemandhra region in the next two years and the only option to save the party is to build bridges with the Jagan party. Since the high command cannot directly open the negotiations channel with the Kadapa MP, the task was entrusted to Owaisi, sources said.

Obviously, Owaisi wanted a firm assurance from the high command that Jagan be made the chief minister and that the CBI cases against him be diluted. One does not know whether there was any such assurance from the Congress party, but the MIM president has taken up the responsibility to convince Jagan in this regard. If not returning to the Congress fold immediately, Jagan might want the Congress to support him from outside if YSR Congress party emerges as the single largest party in 2014 elections.