Jagan Reddys political career in jeopardy?

HYDERABAD: The Congress and Telugu Desam camps are of the opinion that the biggest and simultaneous CBI raids being conducted on the offices of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy will dent his image and demoralise his party.However, leaders of the two parties are reluctant to go on record with their comments. Congress leaders doubt if Jagan will wilt under the pressure and rejoin the Congress. So they are cautious in their reaction to the CBI raids.But Minister P Shankar Rao, whose letter to the High Court, had set off the chain of events, said: “The CBI raids definitely have an impact on Jagan’s political career. If he fails to come clean on the allegations, people will teach him a befitting lesson at elections.” Another Congress leader, JC Diwakar Reddy, said: “If Jagan proves his innocence, he will be the most welcome to rejoin the Congress.” Another senior Congress leader said that whether Jagan and his party would become weak or not would be known only at the time of elections. It (CBI raids) would definitely affect his political career. But, if elections were held in six months, he would ride on people’s sympathy, he added.Telugu Desam leaders too were reluctant to comment openly on what impact the raids would have on the YSR Congress. They claim that their party is not targeting Jagan politically. “We have no personal or political enmity with Jagan. We only want to see that the corrupt is punished,” a leader said.The TDP is silently watching how things will unfold in YSR Congress. No leader of importance had joined it since the CBI launched a preliminary enquiry against Jagan, a leader remarked.“The CBI probe is nothing but an opportunity the Congress high command is giving Jagan to compromise with it. There is no case in the court. The matter is in the hands of the CBI. If Jagan compromises with the Congress high command, the CBI raids will be diluted. We have to watch the developments,” said a TDP MLA.However, some TDP leaders are of the opinion that if the CBI tightens the noose, Jagan will lose his sheen in politics. If he compromises with the Congress and the CBI dilutes the probe, the unholy nexus between the Congress and YSR Congress will be exposed and Jagan will be at the receiving end.