Jagan downplays Chiranjeevi''s stature post merger with Cong

Hyderabad, Feb 18 (PTI) Former Congress MP Y S JaganMohan Reddy today indicated that in his opinion, theactor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi would not be a competitionfor him.

"Nielsen ORG-marg has come out with a survey....anybodyand everybody can actually see what is happening," he toldreporters here, when asked how he saw the possibility ofChiranjeevi being projected as a Chief Ministerial candidatein the wake of his Praja Rajyam Party merging with Congress.

The survey, conducted prior to the merger, predictedmajority for the party soon to be launched by Jagan ifassembly elections were to be held.

Jagan said he would launch his party in the last week ofMarch at the family estate at Idupulapaya in native Kadapadistrict. An auspicious date will be finalised to start theparty, he said.

Replying to a query, he said he had no problem withanybody, including Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, andthat his concern was policies of the government.

Jagan was speaking at the Indira Park here where he wason a fast, to mount pressure on the state government torelease the funds for the tuition fees reimbursement scheme ofthe state government, which was a pet scheme of late Y SRajasekhara Reddy.

Addressing the gathering on the occasion, he hit out atthe Kiran Kumar Reddy government for not clearing dues to thetune of Rs 3,400 crore. .

The government does not have the moral right to continue in power as it is not releasing funds for a scheme that isintended to benefit about 25 lakh students, he said.

"This government does not (even) deserve to be throwninto the Bay of Bengal as sacred rivers like Ganga merge intoit," he said.

The dues in tuition fees reimbursement are to the tuneof Rs 3,500 crore. The managements of professional collegeshad threatened to shut down the colleges following failure oftalks with the government. The government said it wouldrelease Rs 1,000 crore but the managements insisted onreleasing at least 50 per cent of the dues.

Meanwhile, Jagan�s 7-day fast -- which started today --was attended by about 19 MLAs. They are: N Prasanna KumarReddy, Mekapati Chandrasekhar Reddy, Balanagi Reddy, KondaSurekha, Pilli Subhash Chandra Bose, Srikant Reddy,Adinarayana Reddy, Balineni Srinivasa Reddy, G Babu Rao,Ramachandra Reddy, Katasani Rami Reddy, Amarnath Reddy, KSrinivasulu, Jayasudha, K Bharati, Shobha Nagi Reddy,Kamalamma and P Ramachandra Reddy. Congress MP from NelloreMekapati Rajamohan Reddy also attended the fast.

Jagan�s earlier fast in Delhi was to highlight thealleged adverse impact of the verdict of Krishna WaterDisputes Tribunal on the farmers of Andhra Pradesh; it wasattended by about 25 MLAs.