For months now, Reddy, sources said, had been lobbying to secure a position that would protect him from several ongoing investigations, including the latest Enforcement Directorate (ED) probe into the Kakinada sea port and SEZ stakes transfer case.
Published Jan 24, 2025 | 8:44 PM ⚊ Updated Feb 03, 2025 | 3:17 PM
YSRCP leader Vijayasai Reddy, PM Narendra Modi and former Andhra Pradesh CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy
YSRCP’s Rajya Sabha MP Vijayasai Reddy declared on Friday, 24 January, that he was retiring from politics with a special thanks to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. Sources suggest that the long-time aide of former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy has given a lot for people to read between the lines. On both counts, Reddy has revealed quite a lot.
He may retire from politics but Vijayasai Reddy may soon take on a theoretically “apolitical” gubernatorial position. Sources close to Vijayasai Reddy reveal that he has been eyeing a Governor’s post ever since his party faced a debacle in Andhra Pradesh assembly polls.
For months now, Reddy, sources said, had been lobbying to secure a position that would protect him from several ongoing investigations, including the latest Enforcement Directorate (ED) probe into the Kakinada sea port and SEZ stakes transfer case.
It is telling that his decision to resign as a Member of Parliament (MP) and quit politics after over four decades comes barely weeks after the ED summoned him for questioning in the Kakinada port case.
In his special thanks to PM Modi and HM Shah, Vijayasai Reddy seems to have indicated that months of his lobbying has finally paid off. With his exit from the Rajya Sabha, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) or at the very least its bloc, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is set to gain a seat in the Upper House.
Struggling with numbers in the Lok Sabha against a strong Opposition, another seat in the Rajya Sabha is a much needed breather for the NDA. With an overwhelming majority in the Andhra Pradesh assembly, the Telugu Desam Party – Jana Sena – BJP alliance will easily elect a member of the Rajya Sabha.
Vijayasai Reddy’s exit will reduce YSRCP’s numbers in the Rajya Sabha to a mere seven. In August last year, two more YSRCP MPs – Mopidevi Venkataramana and Beeda Mastan Rao – had resigned from the Rajya Sabha.
In September, R Krishnaiah followed suit. The trio’s exit had allowed the TDP to elect two and the BJP to send one MP to Rajya Sabha from Andhra Pradesh in the December 2024 bypolls to the Upper House. The election marked the return of TDP to the Rajya Sabha where it didn’t have a single seat.
Vijayasai Reddy’s exit is a deeper cut for Jagan Mohan Reddy personally. Having been close aide for decades, fissures developed between the two leaders in the run up to the Andhra Pradesh assembly elections last year.
The humiliating defeat of the party did the souring ties no good. While it is yet to be seen if the TDP would want to keep the seat for itself or allow the BJP to field its candidate to fill up the vacancy created by Reddy’s exit.
With his resignation, Vijayasai Reddy seems to have secured a win-win situation for both – himself and the BJP. He would take on an ‘apolitical’ Governor post and make himself immune to investigations while the NDA could gather more strength in the Upper House. All of these developments are taking place when Jagan Mohan Reddy is in far away London on a personal visit.
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
