Hyderabad, May 23: The YSR family's last link with ruling Congress in Andhra Pradesh snapped on Wednesday with the late Chief Minister's younger brother Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy resigning from primary membership of the party.
Mr. Vivekananda Reddy announced his decision to leave Congress after a meeting with his supporters in his hometown Pulivendula, coinciding with the death anniversary of his father Raja Reddy.
“You decide my political future”, Mr. Vivekananda Reddy told his supporters after stating that he could not stay on in Congress accusing the party of having launched a diatribe against “my late brother YSR.”
“I am unable to digest the criticism against my late brother by Congress leaders, including Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy. So, I have decided to quit the party,” the former minister said adding “I have decided to quit the party after a lot of deliberations with my supporters.”
He later told reporters that he would soon decide his course of action.
Speculation is rife that Mr. Vivekananda Reddy may join his nephew Jagan Mohan Reddy's YSR Congress.
Mr. Vivekananda Reddy was elected twice to Lok Sabha from Kadapa constituency, twice to State Assembly from Pulivendula and once to state Legislative Council from Kadapa Local Authorities Constituency and commanded wide respect among Congress cadres in the district.
In a strategic move, Mr. Vivekananda Reddy was inducted into Mr. Kiran Kumar Reddy's cabinet in December 2010 after Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy quit Congress along with his mother.
This drove a wedge between Mr. Vivekananda Reddy and Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy and left the YSR family virtually divided, politically.
