Jagan shows his strength, warns Congress leadership

Hyderabad (IANS)- Apparently preparing for a revolt in the ruling Congress in Andhra Pradesh, party MP Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy Thursday night warned the leadership that he is running out of patience.

Showing his might at a massive public meeting at Kakinada where 28 legislators came out in his support, the son of former chief minister  Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy mounted an attack on the leadership for targeting him and his loyalists.

"I don't know how long I will have this patience," he told the meeting which marked the culmination of his 20-day long 'udarpu yatra' in Srikakulam and East Godavari districts.

A belligerent Jagan took on the leadership for not helping the families of those who died of shock following his father's death in a helicopter crash last year.

"They not only failed to help those families but also tried to stop me from doing the same," he said without naming Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

The Kadapa MP had launched the 'yatra' aimed at consoling the families despite Sonia Gandhi advising him not to do so.

Jagan was accompanied by state minister for social welfare P. Subhash Chandrabose, 28 members of state assembly and four members of legislative council belonging to the party. This is the first time that such a large number of party legislators shared a public platform  with Jagan.

With 156 members in 294-member assembly, Congress party has a wafer thin majority. Analysts said with the support of 25 to 30 MLAs, Jagan can topple the Rosaiah government.

Rosaiah was made chief minister after Rajasekhara Reddy's death in a helicopter crash on Sep 2 last year. The Congress leadership ignored a strong demand from the loyalists of Rajasekhara Reddy to make his son the chief minister.