The YSR Congress Party, led by YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, is holding its cards close to its chest on its future political roadmap and is undecided on whether to remain a silent supporter of the NDA or pledge allegiance to the INDIA bloc, according to people familiar with the matter. A week after the INDIA bloc parties, barring the Congress, extended solidarity with Jagan Reddy during his protest at Jantar Mantar in the national capital on July 24 over attacks and killings of his party workers allegedly by the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in Andhra Pradesh, YSRCP MP Vijayasai Reddy met Union home minister Amit Shah, setting the cat among the pigeons.
“Today, 1 August 2024, I met the Hon’ble Home Minister Shri @AmitShah Ji at his office in the Parliament Building. We discussed various issues related to public interest. Grateful to him that he took out time of his busy schedule and listened to me. #PublicInterest #AmitShah,” Sai Reddy posted on X.
A YSRCP leader, requesting anonymity, said it was the second time in a span of a week that Vijayasai Reddy met Amit Shah.
“This has triggered a speculation over the future of YSRCP, as there were indications that the party was leaning towards the INDIA bloc and planning to take anti-BJP stand at the national level,” he said, adding that it was still not clear what stand Jagan is going to take at the national level.
Read Here: ‘Fence-sitters’ YSRCP, BJD move closer to Opposition rank
In fact, Jagan, who had always maintained cordial relations with the BJP national leadership when he was in power in Andhra Pradesh between 2019 and 2024, was upset after the saffron party joined hands with TDP led by his rival N Chandrababu Naidu, apart from Jana Sena Party led by actor Pawan Kalyan in the 2024 assembly elections, the people cited above said.
The alliance among the three parties proved a death knell for the YSRCP, as the NDA registered a landslide victory by winning 164 out of 175 assembly seats in the state, restricting Jagan’s party to just 11 seats. In the Lok Sabha polls, too, the NDA bagged 21 out of 25 MP seats, while the YSRCP ended up with just four.
Moreover, Naidu became a powerful ally of the BJP and his party is part of the NDA government at the Centre, while the BJP, too, has become part of the Naidu government in Andhra Pradesh.
“This has virtually left Jagan without any friends both in the state and at the Centre. In order to prove that he carries some weight at the Centre, he staged a dharna in New Delhi and invited representatives of a few INDIA bloc leaders,” said political analyst Ramakrishna Sangem.
Read Here | Losses in power sector under YSRCP: Naidu
At the dharna, Jagan was seen to be hobnobbing with INDIA bloc leaders, including Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders Sanjay Raut and Priyanka Chaturvedi, TMC MP Nadimul Haq and a few other leaders of AAP, VCK and AIADMK.
In fact, even before the dharna in New Delhi, the YSRCP sent feelers that Jagan was interested in joining the INDIA bloc and his party demanded that Lok Sabha deputy speaker post be given to the INDIA bloc. “As per the tradition, the post should go to the opposition. The NDA government should uphold the democratic spirit in the country,” Vijay Sai Reddy, who took part in the all-party meeting convened by the Centre ahead of the budget session of Parliament, had said.
Sangem said despite holding a dharna in New Delhi, the YSRCP president did not get much traction from the INDIA bloc. “None of the leaders who met Jagan at the dharna has any stakes in Andhra Pradesh and so, they would neither gain nor lose by extending support to Jagan. However, the most important constituent of the INDIA bloc, the Congress, was conspicuously absent at the dharna,” he said.
Read Here | ‘Vendetta politics’: Andhra Pradesh authorities demolish YSRCP office building
“The reason is very simple. The Congress has a stake, even if it is insignificant, in Andhra Pradesh and the party is headed by Jagan’s sister YS Sharmila, who has now turned his critic. So, Jagan cannot join hands with the Congress and there is no possibility of his party joining INDIA bloc, without the Congress,” Sangem said.
Sharmila took potshots at her brother saying Jagan’s dharna was only a means “to gain political mileage” as his allegations carried no weight. “He is trying to add political colour to the murders and gain sympathy of the people. The Congress stayed away from his protest because it realised the drama launched by Jagan was for political gains,” she had said.
“Perhaps realising that there is no place for the YSRCP in the opposition alliance, Jagan might be trying to maintain his earlier stand of being neutral with a tilt towards the BJP,” political analyst Sangem said.
