Hyderabad: With her son Jagan Mohan Reddy in jail, Y.S. Vijaya will lead the campaign of YSR Congress in the June 12 by-elections to 17 assembly and one Lok Sabha seat in Andhra Pradesh.
Vijaya, a housewife who entered politics after the death of her husband and former Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy in a chopper crash in 2009, was urged by the party’s General Council on May 29 to take the mantle of her son in the by-elections, seen as precursor to the 2014 general elections.
The by-elections will be held in the non-Telangana areas of coastal and Rayalseema regions where it would be the first major test for the fledgling party vis a vis the Congress after Jagan parted ways with the ruling party.
After a CBI court remanded Jagan in judicial custody till June 11 in a disproportionate assets case, Vijaya, who is YSR Congress honorary president, broke her fast to lead the party’s campaign after the Council met on May 28 afternoon.
