Jagan Reddy’s uncle murdered, SIT to probe
VIJAYAWADA: Allegations of foul play flew hard and fast after YS Vivekananda Reddy, a former state minister and uncle of Yuvajana Sramika Rytu Congress (YSRC) leader YS Jaganmohan Reddy, was found hacked to death. The police confirmed that it was a case of murder and the Andhra Pradesh government moved quickly to set up a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the death.
The YSRC demanded a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and said it suspected the hand of the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in the murder. Citing a knife attack on Jagan Reddy in the Visakhapatnam airport in October 2018, YSRC spokesperson Vasireddy Padma charged that the TDP had been systematically targeting the family of her party leader.
Vivekananda Reddy, 68, was found lying in a pool of blood in a washroom at his house in Puliveundula town early on Friday.
“Deep cuts were found in the back of his head, forehead, thighs and hand. Hence, it is a case of murder”, Kadapa district superintendent of police Rahul Dev Sarma told reporters after a post mortem examination.
Condoling the demise, chief minister and TDP chief, N Chandrababu Naidu, directed the director general of police, RP Thakur, to form a SIT to investigate the death.
Jagan Reddy’s cousin and his party’s candidate for the Kadapa Lok Sabha seat, YS Avinash Reddy, suspected it was the handiwork of rivals. He named C Adinarayana Reddy, the Kadapa candidate of the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP), and SV Satish Reddy, who is contesting the Pulivendula assembly seat against Jagan Reddy.
Andhra Pradesh is due to hold simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and the state assembly.
Adinarayana Reddy, in turn, alleged that Vivekananda Reddy may have been eliminated by Avinash Reddy amid a running feud over the Lok Sabha ticket . The police had initially registered a case of suspicious death amid the allegations and counter allegations from TDP and YSRC leaders. To buttress his allegation, Adinarayana Reddy pointed to a brief split in the Jagan Reddy family caused by Vivekananda Reddy going with the Congress when Jagan Reddy fell out with the party in 2010 after his father and then chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy died in a helicopter crash the previous year.
In return, Vivekananda Reddy was rewarded with membership of the legislative council and the agriculture ministry in the then Congress government. Subsequently, he contested as a Congress candidate against Vijayamma, his sister-in-law and Jagan’s mother, in Pulivendula in the 2011 byelections only to suffer a humiliating defeat. Eventually, Vivekananda returned to the YSRCP led by his nephew. Vivekananda Reddy is survived by his wife YS Sowbagya and their daughter Sunitha.
He served as the Lok Sabha member from Kadapa twice (1999-04 and 2004-09).