The raging controversy over development of prime lands in Visakhapatnam, belonging to Daspalla royal family by the relatives of YSR Congress party general secretary and Rajya Sabha member V Vijay Sai Reddy has landed him in an embarrassing situation.
While the issue has naturally provided the much-needed ammunition to the Telugu Desam Party leaders who are demanding a Central Bureau of Investigation into the whole episode, it has also become an irritant to YSRC president and chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy.
The issue has surfaced and become a major topic of discussion across the political and media circles at a time, when Jagan is going all out to develop Visakhapatnam as the executive capital of Andhra Pradesh.
Naturally, there is every possibility that the Daspalla lands controversy has sown the seeds of suspicion among the people that the YSRC leaders are harping on making Visakhapatnam as the administrative capital only to usurp prime lands in the city.
Though the Daspalla lands issue was first brought to light by Jana Sena leaders and then picked up by the TDP leaders, Sai Reddy is said to be suspecting that the documents pertaining to the whole deal were leaked to them by some internal forces within the YSRC.
Sources close to Sai Reddy said he is of the view that without the involvement of some forces within the YSRC, the issue would not have been highlighted by the opposition. In fact, Sai Reddy himself openly expressed this view at the press conference held in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday.
“There is a possibility of our own people conspiring against me. I cannot rule it out,” he said, to a question from the media.
It is learnt Sai Reddy brought this internal sabotage against him to the notice of Jagan and asked him to take appropriate action against those within the party who are trying to malign him.