High command cooled down by intelligence reports

Independent Media

Hyderabad: The Congress high command climbdown on Jaganmohan Reddy’s Odarpu yatra is believed to have been driven by intelligence reports, say sources.

While the high command wanted to put Jagan in his place, reports on a possible split in the party in AP had led to softening of stand against Jagan. The likelihood of 40 MLAs leaving the party with Jagan also forced the high command on a backfoot.
Though party spokesman Jayanti Natarajan ticked off Jagan for his “childish behaviour” and claimed that he knew what the party line was, the two intelligence reports warning the high command on Jagan emerging as a ‘formidable force’ changed its perception by Wednesday evening. “While Sonia was ready to deal with Rosaiah’s detractors, she is not willing to take a beating of the Congress in AP,” said a Jagan loyalist.
“Therefore, after the meeting of CMs in Delhi, Rosaiah issued the open letter stating that the high command had no objection to Jagan’s yatra,” sources said.
On Wednesday morning, chief minister Rosaiah issued a statement saying the yatra did not have the high command mandate and that party legislators should desist themselves from the yatra. Towards evening, however, there was a subtle change in Rosaiah’s stand. Sources said the Congress leadership was wary after analysing the IB reports which clearly stated that 40 MLAs might join forces with Jagan should he decide to break away.
While 17 MLAs called on Jagan before he embarked on the yatra, IB sources said the young MP has the support of 30 others who are lying low for the time being. “That Rosaiah’s morning roar turned into a whimper by evening was indicative of the high command’s worry as reports also indicated that nearly 60 MLAs could go with the MP,” a source said.
As per internal assessment, first-time MLAs, young legislators and those who owe their political career to YSR family, besides those who bond with Jagan were ready to jump the fence. Some 5-6 among 18 PRP MLAs are also ready to join Jagan bandwagon, according to the IB reports. Ministers like BalineniSrinivas Reddy, D Sridhar Babu and several MLAs taking part in Thursday’s YSR jayanti celebrations in their constituencies by ignoring Rosaiah’s “order” is a ploy by Jagan camp to send a strong message to the high command. “It’s make or break for us but we are with Jagan,” Tuni MLA Ashok Babu said.
Going a step further, Bhongir MP Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy said certain leaders were sending negative feedback to the high command. “A conspiracy is on against Jagan but the people are with him,” he said.
Interestingly, the signals of Jagan’s Sakshi TV channel were disrupted by glitches in Isro satellite transponder since Wednesday midnight. Wasting no time, the channel management tied up with another channel (N-TV’s Vanita) to broadcast Jagan’s tour till the fault is rectified. Three channels were also hit by the glitches as they fall in the same frequency mode used by Sakshi channel.

Kolkata Municipal Corporation Civic Polls: Trinamool Sweeps Kolkata In Civic Polls, Set back to Congress

Independent Media
The Trinamool Congress Wednesday wrested control of the prestigious Kolkata MunicipalCorporation (KMC) in an electoral sweep of the civic polls that saw it humble West Bengal’s ruling Left Front across the state.

The state’s urban voters gave the thumbs down to the Left, which suffered a humiliating defeat although the major opposition parties, the Trinamool Congress and the Congress, failed to come to an electoral understanding.

The results have come as a big boost to the Trinamool, which defied exit poll predictions of a close contest and improved its bargaining power vis-a-vis the Congress which performed dismally.

Trinamool candidates won 95, the Left Front bagged 33, Congress got 10 and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) clinched three of the total 141 wards in the KMC.

The Left has controlled the KMC since 2005. However, the Trinamool had run the board between 2000 and 2005, after 20 years of Left rule in the civic body since 1985 when the new municipal act came in place.

The Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool also gained control of the Bidhan Nagar municipality, which includes the city’s posh satellite township of Salt Lake, for the first time. Its candidates won 16 of the 25 seats in Bidhan Nagar, with the Left Front getting only nine.

In the districts, the Trinamool bagged 26 municipalities while the Left Front got success in 17. TheCongress was poised to win in seven bodies.

Among the municipalities the Trinamool won were Memari in Burdwan district and Bolpur in Birbhum district as well as Khardah, Baranagar and Naihati in North 24 Parganas district.

The Left Front retained Bally in Hooghly district and Toofanganj and Dinhata in Cooch Behar district in northern West Bengal. The Congress retained the Katwa Municipality in Burdwan.

An upbeat Banerjee, who flew into the city from Delhi, said the Left had lost the right to rule the state.

“We congratulate the people of Bengal. The state government has lost all right to be in power and assembly elections should be held immediately in West Bengal,” Banerjee told journalists at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport here.

As the results poured in, Trinamool candidates celebrated wildly all over Kolkata. The outcome is considered a huge blow to the Left, which had been in control of 54 of the 81 civic bodies, including KMC, which saw polling.

Sunday’s civic polls were considered a semi-final ahead of next year’s make-or-break assembly elections at a time the Left Front, which has ruled West Bengal since 1977, is facing its most serious challenge to power.

More than 70 percent of the voters exercised their franchise Sunday, two days after the Gyaneshwari Express rail disaster blamed on Maoists claimed 148 lives in West Midnapore.

Sunday’s elections were the first popularity test after the Lok Sabha polls of 2009 that saw the Trinamool-Congress combine decimate the ruling Left Front.

Voluntary Retirement Scheme for staff at Congress headquarters

Independent Media
New Delhi:  Is the Congress short of funds? Party workers employed in Congress offices have been offered a Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) to cut down on numbers.

"We have too many workers so we had to offer them VRS and it is done keeping in mind the well-being of the people," says Motilal Vora, the administration head at the Congress headquarters.

According to the VRS scheme offered, a worker who accepts it will get three months of salary for every year of employment left and two month of salary for every year he or she has put in. Along with this, he will also get all the other retirement benefits.

While middle-aged employees whose children are not yet settled are worried, for people who are nearing retirement, it is a bonanza.

"If I get good money in VRS, I will accept it," says 55-year-old Sangram Singh, an All India Congress Committee (AICC) employee.

Some employees at the Congress headquarters are scared they will be sacked if they don't accept the VRS. And they have one question to ask - Why don't the leaders they serve also offered a VRS scheme?

Results of Nielsen ORG Marg –NTV Survey:Jagan is the Future of Congress in Andhra Pradesh

Independent Media

Results of Nielsen ORG Marg –NTV Survey:

(Number in brackets is vote percentage parties got in 2009 elections)

1. Congress: 33% (36%) – Congress is much ahead of Telugu Desam and PRP in Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra Pradesh.

2. TDP: 26% (24%) – Nara Chandrababu Naidu failed to inspire cadre and fight hard on people’s issues. TDP vote percentage rose by just 2%.

3. PRP: 16% (16%) – Prajarajyam party still has significant presence in coastal Andhra but not a deciding factor in rest of Andhra.

4. TRS: 13% (4%) – TRS increased its vote share by massive 9%. They are expected to get 30% of votes in Telangana region.

Congress warns Jagan on yatra: Iron hand on New born leader

Independent Media

NEW DELHI: As Kadapa MP Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy prepares to recommence his “odarpu yatra” from Thursday to meet and console the kin of those who died unable to bear the shock of the death of his father Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, the Congress high command on Tuesday issued a veiled threat to him to face the consequences if he defied its order.

Congress leaders here believe the yatra will aggravate the turbulent political situation in Andhra Pradesh. Congress spokesman Abishek Singhvi told journalists here: “All true committed and loyal Congressmen must observe both the party dharma and the Lakshman rekha of propriety and party discipline. The failure to do so would perforce lead to a chain of consequences, which are best avoidable. We hope compliance will take the place of defiance… party discipline, like law, does not discriminate between individuals.”

Chairman of the party media department and disciplinary committee Janardhan Dwivedi said a report on the issue had been sought from Congress general secretary in charge of Andhra Pradesh and Union Law Minister M. Veerappa Moily. Mr. Moily is now in London and is expected back in Delhi on Monday.

Sources pointed out that Congress president Sonia Gandhi advised Mr. Reddy on June 29, during a meeting he and his family had with her, to arrange to meet all the families of the victims at one place instead of going on a yatra. If Mr. Reddy still decided to go ahead with the programme, there were chances of the high command even issuing a show-cause. They pointed out that the party in Delhi and A.P. wanted to concentrate on the Assembly by-elections in Telangana and nothing should divert its attention at this juncture. Mr. Reddy's similar attempt to recommence the yatra in Telangana areas on May 28 resulted in violence.

congress party: Fuel price hike is due to compulsions

New Delhi, Jun 26 (PTI) With the Centre coming under all round attack over the hike in fuel prices, Congress today turned defensive saying that it was due to compulsions and no government wants to become unpopular. "There must have been certain compulsions.

No government wants to become unpopular," AICC General Secretary Janardan Dwivedi told reporters here as the Left-ruled West Bengal and Kerala witnessed day-long strike to protest the hike. The remarks of Dwivedi came soon after the JD(U) urged the entire opposition to join hands for a ''Bharat bandh'' on the issue of fuel price hike.

"The council of ministers must have considered all aspects before taking the decision," a senior party leader said. Party sources, however, ruled out the possibility of price rise becoming an electoral issue in the Bihar Assembly elections, expected in October-November this year.

"Price rise is hardly a factor in elections. People are more concerned about governance than price rise," a senior party leader said.

The opposition, however, has planned to bring the government in the dock on the issue with JD(U) President Sharad Yadav saying, "The UPA government has not only increased fuel prices but has also decided to hand over the country to the market. Government is under a false impression that the opposition is divided and hence, it can do whatever it likes.

" UPA ally and Trinamool Congress Chief Mamata Banerjee stuck to her demand of a rollback. "The hike in prices of petrol, diesel and kerosene has overburdened the people.

I am disturbed," she told reporters and once again appealed to the government to reconsider its decision. Banerjee said she has conveyed her displeasure to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, whom she met second time in as many days.

BJP also came down heavily on the government for effecting the hike terming it as a "betrayal". "The ruling UPA government has betrayed the people.

from day one (of Parliament Session), we will take up this issue and oppose it by all means," BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said in Chennai. "I think the session would begin in the last week of July.

till that time we will fight for rollback of fuel prices on the streets," he said. Samajwadi party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav too criticised the government terming the hike in prices of petroleum products as a "cruel joke" with common people and demanded an immediate withdrawal of the decision.

"The Centre has failed to check prise rise and yesterday''s decision to hike prices of petroleum products is a cruel joke with the common and poor people of the country. It should be rolled back immediately," Yadav said in a statement.

Arjun Singh disturbed by allegations, claims local media

The vetran Congress leader who faught for the existance of sonia family is now in trouble.
For the first time since the Bhopal verdict came out earlier this week, Arjun Singh, the then Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister who is believed to have helped key accused Warren Anderson to leave the country, seems to have spoken out.
The editor of a Bhopal newspaper claims Singh told him he is perturbed over reports about his alleged role in facilitating Anderson's exit from Bhopal in a state government plane three days after the gas leak. (Did Arjun Singh arrange Anderson's exit?)




Singh is also quoted as saying that he would speak on the matter at an appropriate time.



Earlier, speaking to NDTV's group editor Barkha Dutt, Congress spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan also did not deny that Arjun Singh needs to clarify his stand. (Bhopal gas verdict: Questions over political culpability)



When asked if she thinks that Arjun Singh owes an answer to the people of India and the people of Bhopal, she said, "Well certainly, the facts need to come out."



"The party has always maintained that all questions that are raised in any such situation must be answered properly and responsibility should be fixed. The same norm applies to this case," AICC General Secretary Janardan Dwivedi told reporters on Thursday, but without naming Arjun Singh.



The biggest fallout of this week's verdict in the Bhopal gas tragedy case has been the refocusing of attention on Warren Anderson, who was Chief Executive Officer of Union Carbide Corporation. Anderson flew into India four days after the gas leak, on December 7. He had been charged with culpable homicide and was even taken into custody. Yet, a few hours later, Anderson flew out of Bhopal on the official plane of Chief Minister Arjun Singh. (Read: Bhopal gas tragedy: Questions over Warren Anderson's getaway)





So far, there have been several statements from investigators and aviation officials at that time that a call from the Chief Minister's office had facilitated the exit of Anderson.



The Congress party is in a spot after one of its senior-most leaders, Digvijaya Singh, said on Thursday that pressure from the USA could have been a factor in how the party's government tackled the aftermath of the Bhopal gas tragedy.(Read:Digvijaya defends Rajiv, says Arjun Singh should answer)



Speaking to NDTV from America, he said, "I don't know as I was not in Bhopal at the time of gas leak. It could be under US pressure but I am not aware of the facts." The Congressman was a minister in the Arjun Singh government in Madhya Pradesh at the time of the gas leak in 1984.



Moti Singh, who was the then Collector of Bhopal, has also suggested that the orders to provide safe and immediate passage to Anderson came from the top. "The Chief Secretary at that time called me to the room and told me to arrange for the departure of Warren Anderson," he told NDTV. (Watch: Bhopal then collector Moti Singh on Anderson)



Captain R S Sodhi, who was then Director of Aviation, Bhopal, has also told NDTV that he received a call from the office of the Chief Minister ordering him to arrange Anderson's departure.

Cong announces nomination of Ambika, Kidwai for Rajya Sabha polls

Congress on Friday announced the candidature of Union Minister Ambika Soni from Punjab and its General Secretary Mohsina Kidwai from Chhattisgarh for the biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha but there was no word yet on another Union Minister Anand Sharma.
The party also nominated former Union Minister and in charge of the Central Election Committee of the party Oscar Fernandes from Karnataka.
Sharma, who hails from Himachal Pradesh and whose term in the Rajya Sabha has already come to an end, may be nominated from either Rajasthan or Madhya Pradesh, party sources said. A final decision is likely any time, they said.He should get elected to retain his place in the Union Cabinet.Four other candidates re-nominated included Vijay Darda from Maharashtra, Dheeraj Prasad Sahu from Jharkhand and EMS Natchiappan from Tamil Nadu, an AICC statement said.AICC secretary Avinash Pandey, who had unsuccessfully fought the Rajya Sabha elections from Maharashtra about two years back against industrialist Rahul Bajaj, is the second candidate from Maharashtra.At that time, Bajaj, who contested as an independent candidate, was backed by NCP, Shiv Sena and BJP.Yesterday, the party had announced the renomination of Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh and other three sitting Rajya Sabha MPs -- J D Seelam, V Hanumantha Rao and Nedurumalli Janardhana Reddy -- from Andhra Pradesh.


Elections are being held for 55 Upper House seats. While voting for 49 seats from 12 states will take place on June 17, polling for six seats from Andhra Pradesh will be held on June 14.



Elections are being held for the 55 Rajya Sabha seats. While voting for 49 seats of 12 states will take place on June 17, polling for six seats from Andhra Pradesh will be held on June 14.



Election will also be held for the remaining term of a seat from Rajasthan which fell vacant due to the death of Krishan Lal Balmiki. His term was up to April 3, 2012.



The elections will be held for 11 seats in Uttar Pradesh, six each in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, five in Bihar, four each in Karnataka and Rajasthan, three each in Orissa and Madhya Pradesh, two each in Chhattisgarh, Punjab and Jharkhand and one in Uttarakhand.



Among the prominent retiring members are Arun Shourie, Venkaiah Naidu and Anil Dave (all BJP), Oscar Fernandes, B K Hariprasad, Mohsina Kidwai, EMS Natchiappan (all Congress), Anbumani Ramadoss (PMK), Jaya Bachchan (SP), Rahul Bajaj (Ind), George Fernandes (JD-U), Sanjay Raut (Shiv Sena), Pyarimohan Mahapatra (BJD), S C Mishra (BSP), Tariq Anwar (NCP).

Jago Jagan, Wake up!

June 4th, 2010

By Priyak Mitra

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Buzz up!

• 

• 

The only thing Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy highlighted by his outburst against Chief Minister K. Rosaiah was his political immaturity and the fact that he still has a long way to go before he can fill his late father’s shoes.
The Mahbubabad violence took place in the first place because Jagan went ahead with his odarpu yatra despite getting clear signals from the Congress high command to put it off.
The violence can be better explained by the young MP’s “over ambitious politics” and his opposition to the division of the state rather than by any un-preparedness on the chief minister’s part. Rather than playing blame games and holding the chief minister responsible for the violence, Jagan needs to introspect on what went wrong during the yatra and where.
With his decision to continue with the odarpu yatra, Jagan is also alienating himself with the party high command.
The Kadapa MP had to eat humble pie as within hours of his press conference in Delhi stating that the Congress leadership had given him the “go ahead”, AICC in-charge of state affairs, Veerappa Moily, had to clarify that he did not tell Jagan to continue with the yatra. To make matters worse, even his “loyalists” are miffed with him for his anti-Rosaiah stance.
Whereas Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy slowly worked up the political ladder and took 25 years to reach where he was at the time of his death, Reddy junior seems to be in a hurry and wants to “fast-track” his political career. He is yet to learn that the journey up the ladder of politics and power is not always easy. Power comes with loyalty, service, charisma, dedication and most importantly, patience.
Jaganmohan Reddy’s political ambitions were abundantly clear even before the last rites of his father were completed. The party high-command’s decision of appointing K. Rosaiah at the helm after YSR’s death did not obviously go down well with Jagan but he decided to play along thinking it was a temporary arrangement.
With it now being clear that Rosaiah’s appointment is not a “stop-gap arrangement”, his odarpu yatra to console the kin of those who died of shock after hearing the news of YSR’s death comes across as a desperate measure.
The resistance of pro-Telangana activists to the yatra is Jagan’s own making. He had joined Telegu Desam MPs in Parliament, rushing to the Well of the House in support of an united Andhra Pradesh. He had been asked by the Congress high command to put off the yatra, but he did not pay heed. The violence that ensued in Mahbubabad
not only put the Congress in bad light but also gave a shot-in-the arm to the Telangana Rasthra Samithi.
It’s time Jagan steps into his father’s shoes, wins over the confidence of all groups and sections and only then enter the race for the CM’s gaddi.

Congress High command : hand in hand with YSR Son Jagan

Vundavalli’s mission ‘Patch-up Rosaiah and Jagan’

 

Vundavalli Arun Kumar,  is now a man with a mission. Fondly called the loud mouth of the congress party, he is desperately trying to broker peace between YS Jagan MOhan Reddy and Rosaiah at the behest of Sonia Gandhi. According to reports, the congress High Command has unofficially deputed him to cool down the tensions between Jagan and Rosaiah as he is with both the parties.

In this process, he is probably one of the few congress leaders who came in support of Jagan and claimed that the issue between Jagan and Rosaiah is very small.

This move by the Congress High Command comes as a relief for Jagan, for it indicates that Sonia Gandhi has not lost her faith in Jagan.

According Sources Congress High Command is well awre of all the Opponents of slained leader Dr YSR and their tactis over the tall leaders family.

in the past Congress nevel left any family un attended who shed thier blood for the party cause. it was Dr YSR who was the back bone of resurgence of Congress I in all south states in particular with AP after PV Narsimharao, Kotal vijay bhasker reddy who indirectly helped TDP to come to power.

it was PV narsimharao who allowed NTR down fall and raise of NCB Naidu.

Sonia and Indra made India proud -2

'Converted Indian Sonia Gandhi's story reads like a soap opera,' says CNN of the third-placed Italy born president of the Indian National Congress and chairperson of ruling United Progressive Alliance.
'Born Edvige Antonia Albina Maino in Italy, she met future husband and Indian political aristocrat Rajiv Gandhi at Cambridge and tied the knot four years later. Rajiv became India's prime minister but was assassinated in 1991.
'Years later (Sonia) Gandhi entered politics as a primary member of the Congress before rising through the ranks to become party leader in 1998.
'Under her leadership, the Congress become the Lok Sabha's single largest political party.'

Image: Congress Party President and Chairperson of the UPA government, Sonia Gandhi greets Congress members during the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting on price hikes and organisational restructuring in New Delhi on February 5, 2010.

Sonia, Meira and Sushma: woman power in LS

TD punctures Congress progress

Nov. 26: The Congress secured a so-so win in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) polls by wresting just 52 of the total 150 wards it contested, while the main Opposition Telugu Desam bounced back by winning 45 municipal wards, setting of alarm in the ruling party.

This was the first election for the Congress after the death of its charismatic leader, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, and the poor show in the civic polls will give the party much food for thought. Though the Congress did emerge as the single largest party in the polls, there is not much joy in its camp.

The Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) retained its hold in the old city and also made inroads into the new city and has 43 seats in its kitty. With this, the MIM can play kingmaker or bag the post of mayor with the support of the Congress or the TD.

The BJP managed to win only five wards this time and Chiranjeevi’s Praja Rajyam won one. While four Independents secured victories, the Lok Satta drew a blank.

Even as trends started pouring in, the Greater Hyderabad Congress president, Mr Danam Nagender, admitted that YSR’s death had affected the party’s fortunes. The Congress has 14 MLAs and three Lok Sabha MPs in Greater Hyderabad, which has 24 Assembly segments. The TD has only one MLA. But the Opposition turned the tables with its performance.

The TD attributed its victory to the development works it took up during its nine-year rule, and the failure of the Congress in improving civic amenities and controlling rising prices of essential commodities.

The Congress had fielded 150 candidates, TD 141, BJP 137, Lok Satta 126, MIM 70, PR 64, CPM 35 and CPI 13. The TRS,
however, did not contest the election. Senior Congress leaders admitted that infighting in the party and failure on its part to convince the settlers that the party will stand by them in case of the Telangana factor also cost it dearly in GHMC polls. Protests by candidates who were denied tickets and allegations of tickets being sold did not go well with the voters. The media’s coverage of protest demonstrations by the candidates gave bad publicity to the Congress, the leaders said.

Congress cracks whip on 16 rebels

Mumbai
Oct. 8: The Congress has released a list of 16 rebels who have been suspended from the party for next six years. Congress committee general secretary and coordinator for Maharashtra Digvijay Singh announced the decision on Thursday.
“Efforts are still on to desist them from acting against the interest of the party, this action has been taken,” Mr Singh said.
The most high-profile rebel who has been suspended is former minister Sunil Deshmukh, who has filed his nomination as an Independent from Amravati against Mr Rajendra Shekhawat, son of President Pratibha Patil. Among the others who are placed under suspension include Mr Rajiv Rajale (Amravati), Mr Yashwant Bhosale (Koregaon), Mr Suresh Shinde (Man), Mr Bajarang Desai (Radhanagri), Mr Vijaysingh More (Radhanagri), Mr Babasaheb Bhos (Srigonda), Mr Haji Akbar Beig (Gangapur), Ms Laxmibai Shewale (Chandwad), Mr Uday Aher (Chandwad), Mr Chandrakant Mohite (Dapoli), Mr Milind Chimote (Amravati), Mr Ashok Dongre (Amravati), Mr Harishchandra Patil (Thane), Ms Kalpana Patil (Thane) and Mr Sandeep Gaddanwar (Brahmpuri).

Andhra Congress has no objection YSR''s son becoming chief minister: Chief Whip

The Congress party''s Andhra Pradesh unit reportedly has no objection to Jaganmohan Reddy, the son of former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajsekhara Reddy, becoming the next chief minister of the state, the party unit''s chief whip said on Friday.

M. Bhatti Vikramarka, the Chief Whip of the Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee, said that the unanimous view was that Jaganmohan Reddy should be the leading candidate for the post to ensure continuity of his father''s most cherished development-related programs and also because of the public service that he was doing.

The comment comes as a fierce succession race has begun notwithstanding the Congress party''s decision to put off the selection of a new leader till early next week.

Seeking to cash in on an emotional wave of sympathy, loyalists of the deceased chief minister have reportedly unleashed a strident campaign for making his son, Jaganmohan Reddy, the new chief minister.

"Jagan knew the mind of Rajasekhara Reddy. He alone can finish the unfulfilled agenda of his father," said government chief whip Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka who is marshalling the MLAs in favour of Jagan.

Congress sources in Delhi have thrown up other names as possible successors. They include Union Urban Development Minister S. Jaipal Reddy, Minister of State for Defence M. Pallam Raju, former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N T Rama Rao''s daughter and junior Union minister Purandeshwari Devi and acting chief minister M K Rosaiah.

Almost all the state ministers, about 22 MPs and several Congress legislators have pitched for Jaganmohan Reddy through the media even as hundreds of party workers gathered at the secretariat,

CM''s camp office, Gandhi Bhavan and various traffic intersections are vocally making a similar demand.

The Jagan group has reportedly met Union Law Minister M Veerappa Moily at the Lake View guest house to pursue their demand even as many Congress MLAs faxed individual memorandum to the party headquarters in New Delhi in support of Jaganmohan Reddy as CM.

They also called on Andhra Pradesh Governor N D Tiwari and submitted a list of 122 signatures in support of him being made the chief minister.

According to sources, there was even an attempt to pressure the governor to swear in Jagan as acting CM immediately, but that was abandoned as Rosaiah had already been sworn in by the time the loyalists reached Raj Bhavan.

Jagan, 36, is a first time MP from Kadapa and is merely 100 days old in politics. While Veerappa Moily made it clear that Rosaiah was only an interim CM and that the Congress high command will chose YSR''s successor in the next few days.