Jagan denied Sonia’s Suggestion

Going by Jagan’s open letter to the people, the Congress leaders and cadres were under the impression that Sonia had suggested Jagan to assemble all the families of shock-death victims to one place in every district and extend financial assistance to them. And Jagan, too, explained in the letter that it was meant for consoling the people, not just paying them money. There was some clarity in chief minister K Rosaiah’s statement in July that Sonia wanted the Odarpu Yatra on the lines of a similar programme taken up by the Congress party in Anantapur district in 2002, when the families of suicide victims were brought together and paid financial assistance, but nobody understood it properly.

However, it was only on Thursday that there was more clarity in the form of letter from union minister Purandareshwari, who had a meeting with Sonia Gandhi. Quoting the party president, Purandareshwari said Sonia was not against Odarpu Yatra and unveiling of YSR statues, but she wanted the programme to be organized on behalf of the Congress party and not by an individual. “She suggested that the party should organize meetings in every district, unveil YSR’s statue in the district headquarters and extend financial assistance to the bereaved families. But her suggestion was distorted and she is very upset about it,” Purandareshwari said.

So, it is now clear that Jagan did not completely disclose what Sonia told him. Apparently, he did not want it to be the party show, but his individual show. If the programme is organized by the party, there is nothing for him to do and he cannot get any mileage out of it. Hence, he defied the high command.