Hyderabad:
Late Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy's widow Vijayamma on Monday accused the Congress party of throwing her and her son Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy out of the party following the death of her husband.
Making her maiden speech in the state assembly Monday night, Vijayamma criticized both the Congress party and main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) for maligning YSR, as the late chief minister was popularly known.
With her voice choking with emotion, the honorary president of YSR Congress Party, while speaking on the TDP's no-confidence motion against the government, alleged that the Congress was targeting the man who brought the party to power twice in the state.
"He worked hard to bring the Congress to power but what has the Congress done for him? He has been named in the FIR. Is this the reward you have given him?" she asked, referring to the CBI including YSR's name in the first information report (FIR) against her son in the disproportionate assets case.
Vijayamma denied that Jagan left the party for the post of chief minister. "He never asked for the post even when he called on Sonia Gandhi," she said after state Congress chief Botsa Satyanarayana alleged that Jagan quit the party as he was not made the chief minister.
She also alleged that the government had diluted all the welfare schemes launched by her husband.
She said it was strange that Chandrababu Naidu, who never worked for the welfare of farmers during his nine-year rule, had moved the no-confidence motion against the government on the issue of farmers.
"However, for us it doesn't matter who has moved the no-confidence motion because we are against this government who is neglecting farmers," she said.
Vijayamma appealed to all supporters of YSR to vote for the motion.
Eighteen rebel Congress legislators loyal to Jaganmohan Reddy are likely to vote for the motion.