Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy continues to maintain good relations with the Narendra Modi government at the Centre in the best interest of the state and also to serve political interests of his party.
At a time when even the closest allies of the Bharatiya Janata Party like Akali Dal in Punjab have opposed the three farm sector bills passed in Lok Sabha, the YSRC which is an outsider has come forward to support the Modi government.
The YSRC declared that it fully supports the three bills introduced to replace three ordinances – the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Ordinance, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020.
In Rajya Sabha, where the BJP is still short of complete majority to get the bills passed, the YSRC has come to the rescue of Modi and said it would support the bills.
Technically speaking, the ordinances do not make much difference to Andhra Pradesh, which has a perfect system of agriculture marketing.
The YSRC MPs also extended support to the BJP in the election of Harivansh Narayan Singh without any troubles, though the opposition had fielded a candidate for the post.
The Jagan Mohan Reddy government also accepted the options given by the Modi government in the GST compensation payment through borrowings, though more than 12 states including Telangana opposed the same.
Jagan also accepted Modi government’s condition to implement power sector reforms including fixing of meters to agriculture sector so as to enhance its borrowing limits.
It clearly shows that the YSRC wants to be a friendly with the Modi government without compromising on the interests of the state.
