In the last three years, there were hardly any occasions when YSR Congress party president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy and Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu seeing eye to eye with each other.
Though both Jagan and Naidu used to face each other in the state assembly, they had never met each other outside at any event.
Now, there is no chance for them to see each other even in the assembly, as Naidu has taken a vow not to come to the assembly again during the present term.
But on Monday, the chief minister and the opposition leader got such an opportunity to meet each other.
The occasion was “At Home” get-together hosted by Governor Biswabhushan Harichandan on the lawns of Raj Bhavan in Vijayawada.
This is for the first time, Bishwabhushan Harichandan hosted At Home at Raj Bhavan in the post-Corona pandemic period. So, he invited everybody, including the chief minister and the opposition leader.
Jagan, along with his wife Bharati Reddy came to Raj Bhavan first and they were greeted by the Governor along with his wife Suprava Harichandan. They sat together and held friendly chat for a long time.
In the meantime, Naidu came along with his party MP Kesineni Nani and deputy floor leader K Atchannaidu to Raj Bhavan. They were seated in their designated seas and the Governor came to them later to greet them.
In the past, it was a practice that the chief minister and the opposition party leaders used to greet each other, exchange pleasantries and crack jokes, forgetting their political differences. It used to happen when Naidu and former CM Y S Rajasekhar Reddy were in different roles.
But now, Jagan and Naidu have turned bitter enemies and they don’t even like to see face to face. So, at the Raj Bhavan function too, they were not “at home” and behaved as if they were completely strangers. They did not even look at each other and left the place separately.
