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HYDERABAD: NDA presidential poll candidate PA Sangma on Monday could not get past the gates of the Central Prison at Chanchalguda where he had gone to seek the support of YSR Congress chief and Kadapa MP Y S Jaganmohan Reddy imprisoned there in the illegal assets case being probed by the CBI.
 
Arriving at around 8.30am, Sangma stood in front of the jail gate for more than 10 minutes before being informed that he could not meet Jagan. When a determined Sangma stood his ground, he was told that he would have to call after 11am to find out. A miffed Sangma left in a huff and did not return to try his luck. Instead, he went and met Jagan’s mother Vijayamma at her Lotus Pond residence and sought her party’s support.
 
"I had a very very fruitful discussion. I appealed to them to support my candidature. They assured me that they would be calling the party office bearers meeting and the final decision would be taken soon," he told reporters. The former Lok Sabha speaker, however, accused the government of preventing him from meeting Jagan. "We explained to the jail authorities that it was not a political visit. The two families have known each other for 20-25 years. The Late YSR was my close friend, so it was just a courtesy call. To dub it a political visit was an afterthought by the authorities and the jailer must have been directed by the state and Union government not to allow me."
 
Sangma also referred to MIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi meeting Jagan earlier in the jail. "He came out after the meeting and announced that he had requested Jagan to vote for UPA candidate Pranab Mukherjee. If Owaisi can go and talk politics, I do not see any reason why P A Sangma cannot," he said.
 
But prison authorities said a specific time could not be given to Sangma as the Kadapa MP was scheduled to have a video-conference with the CBI judge any time between 11am and 2pm. "Also, according to the jail manual, political issues cannot be discussed at mulaqats. Sangma was definitely on a political visit. In any case, he could have been allowed as a friend to meet him. But he did not come back," an official said.
 
Moreover, Sangma appears to have landed at the jail gates straight from the airport at an early hour - even before prison officials settled down for the day - without informing prison officials in advance.
 
The former Speaker, however, could take consolation in the fact that he was not the only one to return from the jail disappointed. Other politicians, including ex-minister M Marappa and ex-MP Ravindra Naik, spent a long time at the jail expecting they would be allowed to meet Jagan, but in vain.