Vijayawada: In a surprising yet cordial interaction, Telugu Desam MLA K Raghu Ramakrishna Raju greeted YSRC president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy as soon as he was spotted in the Andhra Pradesh assembly on Monday.
The interaction of Raju with Jagan Reddy turned all heads to them. Raju has been a strong critic of Jagan Reddy.
“Hi Jagan,” Raju wished the former chief minister and the latter reciprocated. Raju shook hands with Jagan Reddy and the latter patted him on the back. Both exchanged pleasantries for a while. In a light-hearted manner, Raju asked Jagan Reddy to be present in the assembly on all days. “Sure,” the former CM replied.
Senior TD leader and finance minister Payyavula Keshav passed by. Raju requested him that he be allotted a seat beside Jagan Reddy. “Sure, sure,” Kesav said, smilingly.
Raju sat beside Jagan Reddy for some time. Later, the YSRC members led by their chief registered their protest during the Governor’s Address and staged a walkout.
Notably, Raju had displayed intense animosity towards Jagan Reddy for the last five years. Raju had to face sedition cases during the YSRC rule and he had alleged that the CID had subjected to him to custodial torture. For the last four years, Raju had been holding the Rachabanda forum in New Delhi daily, making stinging comments against Jagan Reddy.
Interestingly, a few days ago, the Guntur police booked cases, including an attempt-to-murder case, against Jagan Reddy and three IPS officers based on a complaint lodged by Raju. Against this backdrop, Raju's friendly gesture towards Jagan Reddy in the assembly caught wide media attention.
