The violence against Reliance group, allegedly provoked by a news telecast claiming the business giant got Y S Rajasekhara Reddy killed in a helicopter crash, has triggered unrest in Congress with fingers pointing at Jaganmohan Reddy. While the Telangana faction of the party accused Jagamohan faction of trying to derail division of Andhra Pradesh, others felt it was only an attempt to show that chief minister K Rosaiah was not fit to steer a difficult situation as well as to block the process of formation of Telangana.

The fresh incident in Congress-ruled state, which is mired in controversies since YSR’s death four months ago and is having to deal with the incendiary issue of bifurcation, threatens to stoke factionalism and power struggle, which anyway has brimmed over.

The state police on Friday filed an FIR against the TV channel which aired the news. The probe may have implications for state Congress, especially as the Union home ministry appeared to be in line with the assessment that sudden eruption had to do with factional feud in Congress. A top source called it “intra-party conflict”.

Insiders say the give-away in the ostensible spontaneous reaction of YSR followers to revelation that his accident was a murder, is the basis of the claim. The local TV channel picked the murder theory from a Moscow based website four months after it was posted. The news story is said to have led irate Congressmen to target Reliance offices in Hyderabad, Kadapa, Vijaywada, Eluru and other places.


Source: TOI