Did Jagan meet Shah to save Avinash Reddy?

Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy met Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday night. The meeting happened at 10 pm and lasted for 45 minutes.

The chief minister’s office had said that the chief minister had requested the Union Home Minister to take special interest in bifurcating the institutions listed in Schedule IX and X of the AP Reorganisation Act 2014. The Union Home Ministry is handling the bifurcation of these institutions and had held three rounds of meetings with the officials of the two Telugu states.

The chief minister’s officials also said that the meeting focused on pending issues with the Central government and the pending issues of bifurcation.

However, the opposition parties say that the meeting was held to save Kadapa MP Y S Avinash Reddy from the CBI cases. The CBI had framed charges against Avinash Reddy in the former minister Vivekananda Reddy murder. The CBI attributed political rivalry behind the murder and had even filed an affidavit in the Telangana high court.

The Telangana high court is hearing the anticipatory bail petition of Avinash Reddy. The vacation bench of the high court had completed hearing the arguments on both sides and had reserved its order for May 31. The court also told the CBI not to arrest Avinash Reddy till it declares the order.

There is wide speculation in the state that the CBI would arrest Avinash Reddy any time after the Telangana high court gives its judgment. The CBI framed charges giving no room for Avinash to escape from the arrest.

The CBI had also told the court that it would not investigate the case as desired by Avinash Reddy and said that the investigation so far had pointed an accusing finger at Avinash Reddy. However, the CBI said that Avinash Reddy was not cooperating with the investigating officers and sought judicial custody of the MP.

It is to be seen if Jagan Mohan Reddy had really requested Amit Shah to save his cousin from the CBI cases or only raised the state issues as claimed by the chief minister’s office.