After the special CBI court sent YSR Congress chief and Kadapa MP Jaganmohan Reddy to 14 days' judicial custody, his mother YS Vijayamma has written to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) requesting him to intervene in the issue.
In the letter written to CEC, SY Quraishi, the widow of former Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Rajashekara Reddy, has pointed out that the arrest of her son just 15 days before the upcoming by-elections, is part of a larger conspiracy by the Congress party to prevent him (Jagan) from campaigning for the elections.
Blaming the Congress party and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) for conspiring against her son, Vijamma wrote saying that both the parties "have been carrying on a systematic vilification campaign against Mr Jaganmohan Reddy that he amassed one lakh crores of rupees," as the YSR Congress party is gaining support from the people, according to NDTV.
"The fact remains that the CBI during the last 270 odd days of their deep investigation could not trace even 1% of that amount," she wrote in the letter.
She said that the CBI is acting on the instructions of the Central government ruled by the Congress-led UPA and hence she doesn't have any choice but to ask him ( SY Quraishi) to intervene and direct the CBI to release Jaganmohan Reddy. [Read the entire letter here]
Vijayamma is likely to continue the campaigning trail on behalf of the YSR Congress party for the June 12 by-elections.
Meanwhile, the BJP has alleged that Jagan's arrest is part of the Congress' 'political vendetta' and insisted that he is being targeted as he was fighting against the Congress in AP.
The party blamed Congress for not taking action against six ministers in ruling government in AP (Congress is ruling AP) who are facing similar charges.
"The CBI action of arresting Jagan Mohan Reddy becomes suspect when Congress has selectively chosen to act against an individual. It is selectively targeting him ... political vendetta is being used against those who are opposing the Congress," Deccan Chronicle quoted BJP national spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy as saying.
The Congress has refuted reports suggesting that Jagan's arrest was a political conspiracy. Congress Spokesperson Manoj Tiwari denied any link between Jagan's arrest and the upcoming by-elections.
Jaganmohan Reddy was arrested by the CBI officials on Sunday (May 26) after grilling him for three days in a row in connection with the illegal assets case. He will be in judicial custody till June 11.
