Rajashekhara Reddy in a helicopter crash in September 2009,his son Jaganmohan Reddy, the incumbent MP from Kadapa, started an Odarpu Yatra (condolence tour) across Andhra Pradesh, supposedly to console the families of those who had committed suicide or died of shock after the death of his father. This tour was not supported by the Congress leadership.Congress President Sonia Gandhi claimed the rising volatile situation in the state regarding the Telangana issue as the main reason for opposing the 'Odarpu Yatra'. Defying the Congress High Command's order to call off the tour, Jagan went ahead with the first leg of the 'Odarpu Yatra' in the West Godavari and Khammam districts from in April 2010.The refusal of Sonia Gandhi and the defiance of Jagan Mohan reddy is taken as being apocryphal and there are many stories which mention that Jagan fabricated this story to garner sympathy from the masses which he readily did in the forthcoming elections.
Meanwhile, Sakshi TV news channel and Sakshi newspaper, had been continuously criticizing the new Chief Minister Konijeti Rosaiah and the Congress leadership at New Delhi. In a special programme on Sakshi TV to mark the 125th anniversary celebrations of the Congress party, a voice-over made remarks on Sonia Gandhi and the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the 'current state of affairs' in the State, which i.