Andhra Congress leaders' plan to make an issue out of former Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhra Reddy's religious faith -- Christianity -- to woo back the Reddy community is all set to backfire.
YSR Congress party, headed by the late Chief Minister's son Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, has launched a counter-attack by questioning the nationality of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and the secular credential of the party.
Besides, Jagan's party is further looking to exploit the issue to woo the Dalit Christians to support the rebel MP.
"Some Congress leaders are trying to bring in caste and religious equations to scale down the growing popularity of YSR Congress Party. These leaders should also have asked the caste and religion of their party president before raising such a hue and cry," YSR Congress party spokesman Bajireddy Goverdhan said.
Another Jagan loyalist, Jupudi Prabhakar Rao, said that the dichotomy of the Congress party has been exposed in raking up the Christian faith of Jagan.
"If Jagan is viewed in communal and caste angles, people will definitely raise the question about the nationality and religion of Sonia Gandhi. While the Congress leaders defend the nationality and religion of Sonia Gandhi with fierce loyalty, they are now trying to play the card of caste and creed in an attempt to distance people from YSR," he said.
Rao pointed out that if Congress leaders, such as J C Diwakar Reddy and G Veera Siva Reddy, raise the issue of Jagan's caste and creed to impress their party high command, the very secular credentials of the Congress party would be at stake.
"The true colours of the Congress have been exposed as it is parroting what the communal forces once said by bringing forbidden issues to the fore," Rao said, adding that bringing the Bible and Quran, or church and mosque, into the electoral skirmishes was not in good taste.
The Jagan camp is of the view that raking up YSR's Christianity issue would be counter-productive to the Congress party, which had so far been enjoying the support of Dalit Christians.
"Half of the two crore Dalits in the state are Christians and they regularly go to Church. If the Congress finds fault with Jagan going to Church despite being a Reddy, it would definitely anger the Dalit Christians, who will shift their loyalty to Jagan. This apart, the sanctity of the places of worship should not become material for electoral propaganda," the YSR Congress party leader said.
Rao sought to know on what basis the Congress high command had chosen YSR as the Chief Minister -- his caste, religion, popularity or the peoples' mandate?
Moreover, Goverdhan suspected that the Congress leaders raising the issue of YSR's Christianity had the support of the high command. "Let the party make it an election issue and see what the repercussions would be," he declared.
FROM INDIA TODAY
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