Hyderabad: The Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSRCP, the principal opposition party in Andhra Pradesh, has decided to support NDA’s vice-presidential nominee C.P.Radhakrishnan following a call from Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
“This is the first time since we lost power that a top BJP leader called and spoke with Jagan, that too to seek his support,” a top YSRCP functionary and Jagan’s close aide told ThePrint.
Jagan is said to have responded positively during the call itself Wednesday, while restraining the eagerness in declaring the support right away.
On Monday, YSRCP MP Maddila Gurumoorthy told ThePrint that they were given a go-ahead on Sunday night to vote in favour of the NDA candidate when the election takes place on 9 September.
The Vice-President is elected by an electoral college consisting of all the members of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. The YSRCP has four Lok Sabha and seven Rajya Sabha MPs.
Though the BJP has enough numbers to ensure win of its candidate even without the YSRCP’s limited numbers, the party’s reaching out to YSRCP, among other such non-aligned entities, is seen as its exertion to make the vice-president election an undisputed victory over the INDIA bloc.
Despite the need of the Telugu Desam Party’s 16 LS MPs support for survival in Delhi, the BJP opening a window to converse with Jagan is being seen by YSRCP leaders as its conciliatory move after having ditched Jagan ahead of elections to sail with TDP’s Chandrababu Naidu.
Rajnath’s call is being seen by some quarters as the BJP extending an olive branch to Jagan in order to keep Naidu in check, but TDP leaders are panning the claims.
“The 2024 decision to realign with TDP was the BJP’s electoral compulsion. But they know the popularity of Jagan, who, despite the humiliating defeat, still commands a 40 percent vote share in Andhra Pradesh and can bounce back by next elections,” YSRCP parliamentary party leader Y.V.Subba Reddy told ThePrint.
“We cannot go with the INDIA bloc given our history, discord with the Congress party. Then why not back the NDA especially when they sought our support?”
Though not an ally officially, the YSRCP, during the previous Lok Sabha tenure, came to the rescue of the NDA on several occasions, especially in the Rajya Sabha, in passage of some crucial or contentious bills like the Citizenship Amendment Act. It, however, changed tack in the state to suit its electoral interests.
While the BJP could count on YSRCP support, Jagan, on some occasions, even spiritedly defended PM Modi’s decisions and actions. In one such occasion, Jagan in 2021 asked Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren “not to point fingers but to come together and strengthen the hands of the Prime Minister to effectively combat the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Modi, in his election campaign rallies in Andhra Pradesh too, stopped short of directly targeting Jagan.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
Also Read: Payback time for TDP: Naidu’s party breaches Jagan’s Pulivendula, YSRCP candidate loses deposit
