New Delhi: Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy, his late brother Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy (YSR) and his cousin Y.S. Bhaskar Reddy (now accused, A7) share a common ancestor.YSR died in a helicopter crash on September 2, 2009, just a few months after winning a re-election – as Andhra Pradesh chief minister – that had established him as a formidable force in the Congress party not just in the state but also nationally.He had earlier held the Kadapa Lok Sabha seat from 1989 to 1999 before he handed over the constituency to Viveka to concentrate on state level politics.In the 1999 general election, Jagan, who was about 26 years old, wanted to contest from the Kadapa as his father was moving to an assembly seat. That election was going to be an uphill battle for the Congress, which had been out of power in Andhra Pradesh for many years. So, several branches of the family conferred and came to the conclusion that the time was not right for Jagan to contest. Viveka was believed to have a better chance at securing the family bastion and hence was fielded. Viveka went on to win the seat with the biggest margin in the state; one of only five Congress MPs to win in AP’s 42 seats.In 2004, when YSR first became chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, he sought to get Viveka to hand over the seat to Jagan.Media reports at the time spoke of attempts made to coerce Viveka into resigning his seat. He approached the Congress leadership to let him quit, but the party – unwilling to play around with its slender lead in the Lok Sabha – took no chances.In a story titled ‘Andhra CM proposes, Sonia disposes, MP told to stay put’, The Tribune on September 3, 2004, wrote, “Suspicions that Vivekananda was not giving up his seat on his own became strong when the affable MP made it clear that he was not leaving the country. Local reports said that Vivekananda was not too happy about the pressure from the family to sacrifice his seat in favour of his brother’s son, but he himself never said so.”This development, the newspaper noted, “has put paid to Jagan’s ambitious plans to make a grand entry into electoral politics by contesting from the Kadapa Lok Sabha constituency, the traditional stronghold of the family.”Viveka confided to some persons in parliament house about coming under considerable pressure to quit, but the matter was closed when he was asked to “stay put” by the party. It was only in 2009 that Jagan was able to contest from Kadapa and win.Legacy issuesAfter YSR Reddy’s death in a plane crash on September 2, 2009, Viveka wanted either Y.S. Vijayamma (YSR’s wife) or himself to carry his brother’s legacy forward by contesting from the Pulivendula assembly seat. While there were discussions that Bhaskar Reddy (YSR’s cousin and now accused A7) could also be asked to fight on that seat, Viveka was against it. He said if anyone should contest, it should be either Vijayamma or himself.Jagan also wanted to contest, but the Congress high command was absolutely sure it did not want him to vacate the Kadapa MP seat – which he had won only a few months ago. Eventually, the Congress’ high command decided to field his mother, Vijayamma.Viveka, who was no longer an MP, was elected to the legislative council in September 2009. A year later, in November 2010, he was made agriculture minister in the N. Kiran Kumar Reddy cabinet. Jagan, who had quit the Congress by now, claimed that the high command had made this move to “cause a rift in the family.” One month later, he resigned his Lok Sabha seat while his mother quit as Pulivendula MLA. Together, they formed the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) at the start of 2011.Jagan tried to convince Viveka to quit the Congress and join him. But the latter told his nephew that he had given his word to Sonia Gandhi that until the government’s term expired at least, he would remain with the party. He contested as a Congress candidate against Vijayamma for the Pulivendula assembly seat in 2011.Family sources say that the contest was seen as a litmus test to see who would carry forward YSR’s legacy. The votes were decidedly in favour of Jagan and Vijayamma.In 2012, when Andhra Pradesh was in tumult due to the creation of Telangana, Viveka felt that the Congress was “tarnishing his brother YSR’s legacy” and quit the party. He then joined the YSRCP.This, family sources say, was not welcomed by Bhaskar Reddy and Avinash, who had also resigned from the Congress at the same time as Jagan. They sensed competition and felt that with his uncle Viveka in the party, their influence over Jagan could decrease.From then on, say those close to the deceased, Viveka’s only goal was to ensure that Jagan would become the chief minister. He campaigned extensively across Kadapa on behalf of Jagan. But the party did not make it in 2014.Meanwhile, Jagan realised that he needed to grow in Pulivendula and started nurturing his own people. Because he was not in the town, he began grooming Avinash, Bhaskar Reddy and D. Siva Shankar Reddy (Accused No 5). Within the local party, therefore, two factions were formed and the rivalry between them continued to grow.Accusations of sabotageIn 2017, Jagan asked Viveka to contest as an MLC from Kadapa. His family says that Viveka and they thought this was a sign of Jagan accepting him into the fold, but hasten to add that they later realised it was because Viveka was “the only candidate who could win – because he had his own base.” D. Siva Shankar Reddy (Accused No 5) wanted to contest, but Jagan “laughed it away”.Three MLC seats were up for grabs in AP – Kadapa, Nellore and Kurnool – and the YSRCP lost them all to the TDP. The margin of defeat in Kadapa was the smallest – 34 – out of the 818 local bodies representatives eligible to vote. The CBI chargesheet says Viveka believed D. Siva Shankar Reddy, Bhaskar Reddy and Avinash had worked against him in Pulivendula – his hometown, where he performed worst. “Shri Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy scolded D. Siva Shankar Reddy (A-5), Y. S. Bhaskar Reddy (A-7) and Y. S. Avinash Reddy (A-8) for their involvement in sabotaging the MLC election.”Coming up to 2019, the CBI insists Viveka did not want Avinash – the incumbent Kadapa MP – to contest again and suggested that Jagan’s sister YS Sharmila be the candidate, and that this was the reason the murder plot was hatched:“In order to thwart the plan of YS Vivekananda Reddy, a criminal conspiracy was hatched with the help of D. Siva Shankar Reddy (A-5) who was an associate of Y. S. Bhaskar Reddy (A-7) and Y. S. Avinash Reddy (A-8) besides having criminal antecedent, to get eliminated YS Vivekananda Reddy.”The claim that Viveka wanted to deny Avinash the ticket has been contested by Vivekananda’s sister.