Rajasekhar Reddy

New Delhi, Aug. 29: Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy is barely 27 and impatient to join his peers Sandeep Dikshit, Akhilesh Yadav and Dushyant Singh in the Lok Sabha.

The son of Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy is keen to follow in the footsteps of the sons of other chief ministers and has approached his father to realise his ambition, according to a former MP from the state.

This has prompted Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy, a second-time MP from Cuddapah, to come to his nephew’s rescue. Rajasekhar Reddy’s younger brother is understood to have submitted his resignation from the Lok Sabha membership to Speaker Somnath Chatterjee.

Surprised at the resignation that did not cite any reason for the decision, the Speaker is learnt to have spoken to Vivekananda Reddy.

All eyes are now on the Congress high command. If it clears the MP’s move, the resultant bypoll could pave the way for Jaganmohan to enter the Lok Sabha from Cuddapah.

Sources said the resignation is timed to ensure that the mandatory bypoll coincides with others that are scheduled to be held along with Assembly elections in Maharashtra and Arunachal Pradesh in October.

But much depends on the party high command’s decision on the resignation.

If all goes as scripted by the Reddy family and Jaganmohan manages to win the Cuddapah mandate, he would be the fourth among the sons of incumbent chief ministers in the Lok Sabha.

Sandeep is the Delhi chief minister’s son, Dushyant the Rajasthan chief minister’s, and Akhilesh the Uttar Pradesh chief minister’s.

The Lok Sabha peer group among the Congress also includes Sachin Pilot, Milind Deora, Jatin Prasad and Jyotiraditya Scindia.

The sources said Jaganmohan, who manages the family’s expanding business in the power sector, had actively participated in the Congress poll campaign in May that was led by his father.

He was also the unofficial campaign manager for Vivekananda Reddy in Cuddapah.

Jaganmohan had apparently been keen to contest the seat then as his uncle was reluctant about a second term. But Rajasekhar Reddy advised his son against it and persuaded the brother to join the fray.

The surprise resignation is essentially a family affair but briefly there were speculations in Congress circles that Vivekananda Reddy might have made the move to make way for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to enter the Lok Sabha. Three months ago, the chief minister had invited Manmohan to enter the Lower House from the state.

But the speculation has no basis as the Prime Minister has no plans to enter the Lok Sabha. He is a Rajya Sabha member from Assam.