YSRC president Jaganmohan Reddy’s description of chief minister Chandrababu Naidu as a leader without character and credibility seems to have touched the raw nerve with the Telugu Desam party.

Telugu Desam leaders and cabinet ministers on Thursday pounced on the Opposition leader with an all-out attack. The attack began a day after Jagan , after admitting Anam Vijaykumar Reddy into YSRC in Nellore, dubbed Chandrababu Naidu as a leader without character and credibility. In a meeting, organized at Nellore on the occasion of Vijaykumar Reddy’s joining the YSRC, Jagan said Naidu had no “character and credibility”. Jagan targeted Naidu for encouraging defections from YSRC to TDP and talked on the need for the politicians to cultivate character and credibility. This triggered a series of verbal attacks on Jagan on Thursday.

Health Minister Kamineni Srinivas was too virulent in his attack. He said Jagan suddenly had become loose-tongued in the absence of CBI Joint Director Lakshminaryana. ” Jagan used to be scared of Lakshminarayana. When the CBI JD was in state Jagan never dared utter a single word. He managed bail after Lakshminarayana was shifted,” the minister said. Taking strong objection to Jagan’s tirade against Naidu, the health minister said Jagan, who revolves around courts in the cases related to amassing assets, had no moral right to criticize the CM. He advised Jagan not to take Assembly as the Lotus Pond, where he can talk anything he likes.

HRD minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao accused Jagan of showing disrespect to the Assembly and wondered what type of character was this ” He is a man who stalled the House for days for the sake of one person, Roja. What moral right he has to criticize Naidu’s character and credibility,” Ganta asked. “while Jagan was wasting precious Assembly time, Chandrababu Naidu was struggling to develop the state,” he said.

Irrigation minister Devineni Umamaheswa Rao, going a step further attacked Jagan and his father together. He alleged YSR’s jalayagnam was yielded corruption instead of water in the irrigation canals.

Party spokesperson and MLC Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy took a dig at Jagan and said it was not Chandrababu Naidu, but Jagan, who was a man without character and credibility. Reddy alleged that Jagan back-stabbed Sonia Gandhi. IT minister Palle Raghunatha Reddy said it was unfortunate for the state that a characterless man was the leader of opposition in the state.