KADAPA: The Congress suffered a setback in Kadapa district Wednesday with Y S Vivekananda Reddy deciding to quit the party. In all likelihood, he will join his nephew Jagan Mohan Reddy’s party.Vivekananda Reddy called a meeting of his followers at Pulivendula Wednesday and discussed his future plans with them. After pouring his heart out, he announced he was bidding adieu to the Congress because a campaign of calumny is going on against his brother, the late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy.“I do not want to remain in the Congress any more. There is no recognition for me here. I sacrificed my family interests for the Congress, but they did not take me either into the Legislative Council for a second term or into the Rajya Sabha,” he said. Reddy said he would soon join another political party after discussionss with his supporters.Vivekananda Reddy spoke to mandal and village-level leaders and Congress workers from six mandals. “There has been no development in Kadapa since the death of my brother. Irrigation works have slowed down,” he said, reiterating that he cannot stay in a party whose leaders are targeting YSR every day. When Jagan Mohan Reddy floated his party in early 2011 and continued his Odarpu Yatra, the Congress central leadership won over Vivekadnana Reddy to its side with the aim of splitting Jagan’s base in Kadapa district.Kiran Kumar Reddy, after he became the chief minister, was asked by the high command to take Vivekananda into the Cabinet. He was even given the agriculture portfolio. But the Congress strategy boomeranged as Vivekananda Reddy not only failed to establish himself as an alternative to Jagan in Kadapa district but also lost to his sister-in-law Vijayamma in the byelection to the Pulivendula Assembly seat. Vivekananda Reddy quitted as minister to fight the election.After that rout, he has been maintaining a low profile, unable to decide whether to quit or stay in the Congress.
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