Hundreds of supporters of YSR Congress gathered at the Nampally courts complex here on Friday when their party president Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy was brought there from Chanchalguda central jail in connection with the latest case registered against him by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
The crowd created a noisy scene in the corridor outside the CBI court which prompted the judge to warn Jagan’s lawyer that they will lose the sympathy of the court. He asked the lawyer to educate the crowd to behave well. But Jagan was unfazed.
Wearing an orange half-sleeved shirt, the Kadapa MP looked slimmer and fitter than on December 5, 2012 when he came out of the jail premises last time.
Advocates raise ‘T’ slogans
Matching the slogans of the crowd were advocates supporting separate Telangana; the latter were equally vociferous as they raised ‘Jai Telangana’ slogans, branding Jagan as an integrationist. The mob gathered outside the room where Jagan was allowed by the judge to meet his relatives for 50 minutes after the court adjourned. The police had a tough time in controlling the situation.
Scuffle between two groups
The advocates trailed behind Jagan up to his car when he was being taken back to the jail. A scuffle also ensued between the two groups in the melee. They repeated the scenes with Jagan’s mother Vijayamma and wife Bharati when they too left the place. The women complained that the police set up obstacles to their entry.
A third group supporting former Minister P. Sabitha Indra Reddy, who also marked her attendance in the court on Friday, was waiting at a distance from the complex holding placards.
When the proceedings began in the court, there was only one occasion when Jagan enquired with Ms. Sabitha Reddy how she and her son Karthik were doing. Otherwise, the two avoided eye contact throughout though they stood next to each other in the court hall.
Jagan’s mother Vijayamma wept bitterly as her son extended a comforting arm around her.
Jagan was driven in an SUV with two pilot cars. Two MLAs supporting YSRC -- Sobha Nagi Reddy and K. Srisailam Goud -- were present in the courts complex.
