Jagan's close aide Vijay Sai arrested, is he next in line?

While the arrest will put the YSR Congress chief on the back foot, the CBI has decided not to take any hasty step and mess up the case, reports Vicky Nanjappa.  

The arrest of Vijay Sai Reddy by the Central Bureau of Investigation has ruffled feathers in the Jaganmohan Reddy camp. Vijay Sai Reddy was arrested on Monday night in connection with the illegal assets case against YSR Congress party chief Jaganmohan Reddy. Vijay Sai Reddy, who was named as the second accused in the case, is the vice president of Jagati Publications Private Ltd, which is owned by Jaganmohan Reddy.

This is the first arrest made in the illegal assets case and the Jagan camp is worried that their boss could be the next target. However, the CBI is treading very carefully and has said that they would like to build a watertight case before making any move against Jaganmohan Reddy.

A few months back, the CBI had questioned Jagan for a couple of hours. Jagan had denied any wrongdoing and had even termed the entire exercise as a witch-hunt.

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However, Vijay Sai Reddy's arrest only indicates that the CBI is very close to nailing Jaganmohan Reddy. Vijay Sai is a key man in the Jagan empire and has been a financial advisor to Jagan's family right from the YSR days. In fact, Vijay Sai is in the know of every transaction made by the Jagan empire and was also involved in floating several companies and mobilising investments.

The CBI has decided not to take any hasty step and botch up the case. Moreover, even the ruling Congress would not want any goofups, as any mistake would only give the YSR Congress chief an advantage while facing elections.

Political observers and investigators in Andhra Pradesh see the arrest of Vijay Sai Reddy as an important development. The case has finally started moving and the CBI is looking for more information on Jagan's dealings before it could proceed any further.

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The latest development is expected to make Jaganmohan Reddy cautious. He is likely to tread carefully, not wanting to appear too aggressive with the Congress.

Jaganmohan Reddy had upped the ante during the recent no-confidence motion against the N Kiran Kumar Reddy-led Congress government in Andhra Pradesh. He had also dared the Congress to disqualify MLA's from the Congress who voted against them with an intention of going to elections in 17 constituencies.

At the moment there is immense pressure on the Congress to take action against the MLAs. The probe would mean that Jagan would go a bit soft and not pressurise the MLAs from the Congress to press for their disqualification.

Jaganmohan Reddy has also decided to play it safe as far as the Telangana elections are concerned. He would not want to jump into the fray and face defeat. A couple of days back he announced that he would not take part in the Telangana by-elections.