"Stop Speculation On Jagan's Arrest"

The YSR Congress, on Wednesday, appealed to the media to refrain from being influenced by the "malicious reports" being published by against Y S Jaganmohan Reddy and his family members by the press. These reports were allegedly meant "to mislead the public".

"The speculative reports on the arrest of Y S Jaganmohan Reddy are one such example. The reports are not sourced properly, and are against the ethics of journalism, which needs to be very objective," party spokesperson Bajireddy Goverdhan told reporters, in Hyderabad.

"Is the section of media, controlled by vested interests, trying to influence and give direction to the CBI by publishing such reports, or is it part of a larger conspiracy to defame YSR and his family members?" he asked.

"Why should Y S Jagan be arrested? There are many Chief Ministers whose children have business interests, and there is nothing wrong in that," he said.

Y S Jagan said the same thing to a national channel last night.

"Why should I be arrested?" was the answer he gave to a persistent question on the subject, and the anchor had to give up after he said "You throw the same question (on my arrest) and I throw it (answer) back to you again."

"There is nothing wrong in industrialists coming forward to invest in Jaganmohan Reddy's companies. The land was acquired by Hetero after paying adequate compensation to the farmers, and is in tune with the government policies," Bajireddy said.

He said that the same procedure is being adopted in West Bengal by its Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, and in Gujarat by Narendra Modi.

To attract investments and industries, certain amenities must be provided, and industrial development in the state must be put back on the right track, he claimed.

Referring to Chandrababu Naidu, he said that "the kingpin of all scams and his associates" are being left out by the media in its reporting.

He mocked Chandrababu Naidu, who he said once called CBI the Congress Bureau Of Investigation, and his "new-found love" for the investigation agency. He said that Naidu's doublespeak is a known pattern in Andhra Pradesh polity. (INN)