Jaganmohan Reddy stages dharna in capital, courts arrest

Taking his fight against division of Andhra Pradesh to the capital, YSRCP chief Jaganmohan Reddy on Monday staged a protest and courted arrest, while accusing the Congress of engineering the pepper spray episode in Parliament.

He also alleged that a company owned by expelled Congress MP Lagadapati Rajagopal had received approval for Corporate Debt Restructuring (CDR) of Rs 8,000 crore a month ago.

"Congress plotted this whole game, where a pepper spray incident was forced upon Parliament to clear everybody, who is protesting. Rajagopal, who actually sprayed pepper, isn't he a Congress man," Jagan asked while briefing reporters on the sidelines of the protest organised by his party against the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.

"Do you believe if somebody is opposing Congress party, if somebody is really a rebel to the party, a CDR would happen with the consent of Congress party," he wondered, citing media reports about Rajagopal's company getting approval for CDR.

He also accused Sonia Gandhi of dividing the state for political gains. Referring to her Italian background, he dubbed the Indian National Congress as "Italian National Congress" and said, "Even Britishers did not do what she did to my state of Andhra Pradesh".

He claimed Congress came up with the idea of dividing the state with the sole aim of making Rahul Gandhi Prime Minister as it hoped to win some seats by aligning with TRS in Telangana.
Later in the evening, Jagan, flanked by his supporters, marched towards Parliament but was stopped at Parliament Street Police Station.
"We just marched towards the Parliament without instigating any violence. Yet even that kind of permission is denied. We stage our protest and we court our arrest," he said.

He said the Congress was "creating a situation, where the Opposition parties could not speak out".

Congress had expelled six Lok Sabha MPs from Seemandhara, including Rajagopal, who opposed creation of Telangana and had given a notice of no-confidence motion against the government, on February 11.

Asked about BJP's stand on the bill, Jagan expressed hope that the principal Opposition party would help to keep Andhra Pradesh united.
"I can be hopeful... Beyond that tell me what can I do?...

I am hoping that they will come forward to keep the State united," he stressed, while calling on the entire Opposition to set aside their differences for the cause.
The YSRCP leader took a swipe at Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy amid reports that he is considering to resign against splitting of his state.

"Kiran Kumar Reddy's resignation issue is a mockery once again. In 10 days time, when election schedule is going to be released, what difference does it make if he resigns or not today," he questioned.