As CBI guns for him, Jagan may turn spotlight on Naidu

In Andhra Pradesh, as the Congress government tightens the noose on Jaganmohan Reddy with the arrest of his close aide in alleged corruption cases, the YSR Congress camp is training its gun on Chandrababu Naidu.

In Andhra Pradesh the battle lines are drawn -- it's the Congress versus Jaganmohan Reddy. And as the two sides continue to be at loggerheads, the one bearing the brunt will be Telegu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu.   

The Central Bureau of Investigation continues to carry out arrests of Jagan's aides in the disproportionate assets case and build a watertight case against him. But in the YSR Congress camp there has been no move to counter the CBI probe.

Jagan has made it clear to his legal team that the approach against the CBI should be that of a counter attack and not of self-defence. Although there are enough indications that the CBI is slowly but surely building up a strong case so that they have enough evidence to arrest Jagan, he has not sought anticipatory bail.   

According to the YSR president, he is being targeted only because the agency is being directed by the Congress. "There is no point in going to court and seeking any relief; we have nothing to be scared. We are clean," said his supporters.

Instead, Jagan and his followers have decided to up the ante against Naidu, who is also facing corruption charges. A petition has been filed by Jagan's mother Vijayamma in the Andhra Pradesh high court seeking a directive for a CBI probe against Naidu in a disproportionate assets.

However, the Jagan camp believes that the Congress is intentionally going slow against Naidu since the two have ganged up to wipe him out from the state before the next election. 

For Jagan, a counter move against the CBI would be to train his guns against Naidu. The plan is to file a series of petitions before the Andhra HC and the Supreme Court seeking directives on allegations that no action was being taken against Naidu despite corruption charges being leveled on him. In days to come, one can expect this political battle to unfold on the legal turf. 

However Jagan's worries are far from over as far as the Congress goes. He is well aware that any wrong or aggressive move against the party would spell doom for him because working at the behest of the Congress is the CBI. Moreover, he knows that it would be curtains down for the YSR Congress if he is put behind bars.   

This is not a fact that Jagan would admit openly. He insists that he does not fear arrest and would come out strongly even if he is arrested.  

The Congress on the other hand is treading cautiously, as it does realise that if it acts against him in haste there is a possibility that he may gain more sympathy from the public. And this, insiders say, would hamper the party's political ambition in the state.   

CBI sources, however, maintain that there is no political vendetta against Jagan and they are handling the case systematically. First was the arrest of Vijay Sai Reddy, a key Jagan aide. However, the CBI believes that Sai Reddy has not been truthful and hence a narco-analysis test is sought on him.

And the YSR camp suffered a bigger blow with arrest of another trusted Jagan aide, N Sunil Reddy. He was held in connection with the Emar scam on Tuesday. 

Sunil Reddy's arrest has been giving sleepless nights to Jagan. He is a distance relative of the Kadapa MP and is in the know of all his business deals. Moreover, he is directly connected to the YSR Congress. The worry is that he may spill the beans regarding the party's funding, say sources.  

It has now become clear that the CBI is not only looking at the business deals of Jagan, but is also attempting to get to the root and find out how exactly is the political outfit being financed.