More than anybody else, it is Telugu Desam Party leaders who are on cloud nine over the conviction of AIADMK general secretary V K Sasikala by the Supreme Court in connection with the corruption case.
Reason is obvious: they are drawing parallel between the Sasikala’s case with that of alleged illegal assets case pending against YSR Congress party president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy.
According to them, there is no difference between the two cases. While Sasikala misused Jayalalithaa’s position and amassed huge wealth through ill-gotten means, Jagan also misused his father’s position and made huge money through quid pro quo deals.
TDP spokesman Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy pointed out that if Sasikala who was only accused no. 2 (A-2) in her case was given four years imprisonment, Jagan should get bigger punishment since he is A-1 in the cases against him and had amassed more than Rs 1 lakh crore.
But that is ridiculous to make any such comparison. First of all, Jagan’s case is still in the trial court and so far, the CBI has not been able to produce any evidence against him.
Already, several of those named in the case have been absolved. Even if the CBI frames charges against Jagan, there is no guarantee that the CBI court should convict him. Even if it does, Jagan still has the option to move the high court and then Supreme Court to get justice.
So, if the TDP leaders hope that Jagan would immediately go in to jail if he is convicted by lower court, they are in fool’s paradise. Even this will take a long time. In the meantime, anything might happen in politics!
