It is a known fact that YSR Congress party president and chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy does not want to see eye to eye with party’s MP from Narasapuram parliamentary constituency Kanumuru Raghu Ramakrishna Raju, who had turned a rebel against the party in general and Jagan in particular.
The animosity between the two has gone to such an extent that the Jagan government has filed a sedition case against Raju and the latter is not in a position to step into Andhra, fearing cases and arrests by the Andhra police.
But there is likely to be an occasion where Jagan might have to share the dais with Raju shortly. The occasion is the 125th birth anniversary celebrations of revolutionary freedom fighter Alluri Sitarama Raju to be held at Bhimavaram in Narasapuram district on July 4.
Bhimavaram happens to be Raju’s native place and he is a local MP. So, as part of the protocol, he has to attend the Prime Minister’s programme and according to sources in Delhi, his name has been cleared by the PMO to attend the function and sit beside Modi on the dais.
At the same time, being the chief minister of the state, Jagan will also have to receive the Prime Minister at Gannavaram airport and fly along with him to Bhimavaram to attend the function. He, too, have to share the dais with Modi.
It means both Jagan as the chief minister and Raju as the local MLA would be present on the same dais. Since the programme is being organised by the Union ministry of culture as part of Azad Ki Amrut Mahotsav, there is little for the Jagan government to decide on who should be there on the dais and where they should sit.
This will naturally be an embarrassing situation for Jagan, while Raju might project it as a sort of victory for him.
But one wonders whether this will really happen. There is a chance that either of the two might not be present on the dais. According to a talk going on in the media circles, the chief minister will not allow Raju to attend the function.
As soon as Raju arrives in Narasapuram a day before, he will be taken into custody in one or the other case and the government will ensure that he will have no time to attend the PM’s function.
There is also a possibility that Jagan might skip the function. Since he is going to Paris to attend the graduation ceremony of his daughter Harshini Reddy, he might not have the time to attend the PM function. Since he would be out of the country, the protocol issue might not arise by then.
So, Jagan may not have to face the embarrassment of sharing the dais with Raju, a person who he hates most after Chandrababu Naidu.
