The latest comments by former YSR Congress party general secretary V Vijay Sai Reddy against coterie around party president Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy and the counter-attack by the YSRCP leaders appear to have cleared the deck for his re-entry into politics through Bharatiya Janata Party.
According to sources, Sai Reddy is making a desperate attempt to get back his Rajya Sabha membership on behalf of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Though the BJP national leadership is not averse to admitting him into the party and give back his Rajya Sabha seat, the only issue is with the Telugu Desam party its alliance partner in Andhra Pradesh.
The BJP doesn’t want to antagonise the TDP at this stage by offering the Rajya Sabha seat to Sai Reddy, who was a bitter critic of Naidu till recently.
As a matter of fact, Naidu is also not completely against Sai Reddy’s entry into the BJP, but he is afraid of the TDP cadre, which has been in a vengeful mood against the YSRCP.
If Naidu remains silent over the BJP admitting Sai Reddy and giving him the Rajya Sabha seat, there will be massive protest from the TDP cadre.
So, Sai Reddy has to first win the confidence of the TDP cadre, by proving that he is seriously against Jagan and his men.
That is why, Sai Reddy, who had hitherto given the impression that he was keeping away from politics, has started making comments against the YSRCP leaders, including the so-called coterie around Jagan; and allegations of liquor mafia etc.
As expected, the YSRCP leaders began the counter-attack on Sai Reddy. Immediately after his statements, former minister Kakani Govardhan Reddy counterattacked him in the media. Today, another former minister, Gudivada Amarnath, also criticized Vijayasai Reddy.
It appears Sai Reddy is deliberately inviting criticism against himself. This could be a ploy to escalate matters further and launch even more severe attacks on Jagan and other YSRCP leaders, so that the TDP cadre will really believe that he has become anti-Jagan and his entry into the BJP will help coalition in the coming days.