Congress gave go-ahead for yatra: Jaganmohan

In the eye of a storm ever since he defied the high command, Congress MP Y S Jaganmohan Reddy on Tuesday claimed the party has given the "go-ahead" to him to continue with his tour of Telangana region and that all issues have been sorted out.

After meeting Law Minister Veerappa Moily, the 37-year-old MP from Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh, said he would continue with his yatra.

Jaganmohan said he had told Moily that the yatra was apolitical and aimed at visiting the families of those who had died of shock or had allegedly committed suicide after hearing the news of his father Y S Rajasekhara Reddy's death.

"He (Moily) has given a go-ahead. He told me to go and continue with whatever I am doing. In fact, this tour of mine was widely appreciated by him and he had given a very clear indication to go ahead and do what I am supposed to be doing," he told reporters after the 20-minute meeting with Moily.

The Congress MP also said Moily, who is also the in-charge of party affairs in Andhra Pradesh, greeted him with a smile and blessed him.

"When I went inside, he (Moily) greeted me with a smile and then he blessed me (for continuing with the yatra)," he said in Telugu.

Asked whether the misunderstanding with the high command has been sorted out, he said everything has been cleared and sorted out.

"If at all you call it a misunderstanding, things are now under....everything is clear and sorted out," he said.

Asked whether he would meet Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, whom he could not meet yesterday, Jaganmohan said: "As far as the meeting with Pranab Mukherjee is concerned, Moily told me that he will brief him."

Jaganmohan had defied the party high command's directive and gone ahead with his tour of the sensitive Telangana region on Friday last. However, he was forced to abandon the yatra after violence erupted in Mahaboobabad town in Warangal district, the hotbed of the separate state agitation.

Sources said Jaganmohan told Moily that his yatra was apolitical in nature and he was undertaking the tour as the son of Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and not as a Congress MP. They said he also conveyed to Moily his desire to continue with the yatra in Srikakulam as planned on June 8. He had yesterday met Ahmed Patel, Congress President Sonia Gandhi's political adviser, and explained under what circumstances he went ahead with the yatra.

The MP had yesterday told reporters that he would go ahead with his yatra as planned and there was no question of abandoning it.

"If I abandon, I cease to be the son of my father," he said.