Jagan's mother leads charge

Hitting the campaign trail for bypolls in Andhra Pradesh following the arrest of her son YSR Congress chief Jagan Mohan Reddy, Y S Vijaya Lakshmi on Wednesday alleged that there is a conspiracy to defame him and demanded that the Centre and state government clarify 'doubts' over the death of her husband Y S Rajasekhara Reddy.

With the 12 June bypolls to 18 assembly and one Lok Sabha seat in Andhra Pradesh seen as a battle of prestige against the Congress, Vijaya Lakshmi, honorary president of YSR Congress, plunged into her maiden election campaign at Narasannapet in Srikakulam district.

'There are doubts (about the death of former chief minister Rajasekhara Reddy) like why a chopper, which remained unused for three months, was brought for his use.

'It is the responsibility of central and state governments to clarify these doubts,' she said.

Finding fault with the ongoing investigation into the disproportionate assets case against Jagan, she wondered why he was not arrested in the last several months since it began.

'The conspiracy to defame Jagan would not succeed as people love him and late Rajasekhara Reddy a lot,' she said.

Vijaya has taken over the mantle of campaigning for the bypolls in the wake of the arrest of Jagan on Sunday.