Jaganmohan Reddy (left); Chiranjeevi

Hyderabad, Aug. 10: The rebel in the Congress ranks has got a taste of Chiranjeevi’s tongue, although the Telugu filmstar-turned-politician might not agree.

In a scathing attack on Jaganmohan Reddy, Chiranjeevi has claimed the disgruntled Congress MLA apparently invested “thousands of crores of rupees” amassed during his father Y.S.R. Reddy’s tenure in launching a newspaper and a television channel.

Speaking at a rally in Nellore town on Sunday, the Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) president also accused Jaganmohan of using the “ill-gotten money” to fund his recent Odarpu yatra to console people devastated by YSR’s death in a chopper crash.

“Jagan is using all the thousands of crores of rupees he earned during his father’s rule to defame the Congress now,” Chiranjeevi, who formally aligned himself with the Congress after meeting Sonia Gandhi in early July, claimed.

Congress leaders, aware that Chiranjeevi had agreed to prop up the K. Rosaiah government if Jaganmohan walked out with his rebels, said the growing dissent in their party seemed to have speedily cemented its ties with the PRP.

Chiranjeevi, however, denied his remarks at a hurriedly convened news conference yesterday. “I was misquoted. I did not say anything against Jaganmohan. I only iterated the doubts raised by my colleagues,” he said.

Sources said Chiranjeevi’s attack was in retaliation to Jaganmohan’s attempts to win over PRP leaders during the Odarpu yatra in East and West Godavari districts. Jaganmohan, reported to have spent Rs 25 crore in each district to organise the yatra, has apparently stepped up his interaction with Chiranjeevi’s flock ever since the former filmstar pledged the support of his 16 legislators to the Congress.

Correspondingly, Chiranjeevi has been backing the Rosaiah government. Before taking on Jaganmohan, he had thrown his weight behind the Andhra government in the Babhli barrage controversy.

Chiranjeevi’s support has come as a breather for chief minister Rosaiah who has been under attack from Jaganmohan’s team of MLAs. Konda Surekha, a former minister, had written to Sonia last week that the Congress was doomed under Rosaiah. “How can aged baboon save the Congress in the state after the disastrous outcome of the Telangana by-elections?” she asked.

But Chiranjeevi’s support to the Congress has come at a cost. His party has lost its base in Telangana after he declared his preference for a united Andhra. Two of his MLAs from Telangana have switched to the Telangana Rashtra Samiti. Some PRP veterans like Parakala Prabhakar have also quit.