It appears YSR Congress party president and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy has been under tremendous pressure to establish an understanding with the Bharatiya Janata Party national leadership, since it is the only way for the party to return to power in the state in the next elections.
Several seniors like Botsa Satyanarayana and Pilli Subhash Chandra Bose have reportedly told Jagan that he should give up his neutral stand and go all out to appease the BJP, despite the fact that the party is in alliance with the Telugu Desam Party and Jana Sena Party in the state.
A party leader said till 2023, the BJP national leadership was interested in having an alliance with the YSRCP in Andhra, as it was of the view that if the TDP can be wiped out in the next elections, the BJP could gradually emerge as a force in the state.
Whenever Jagan went to New Delhi, the BJP top leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah had invited him to join the NDA and take a couple of berths in the Union cabinet.
But Jagan did not evince much interest in openly joining the NDA, as he feared that it would erode his vote bank among the Christians and Muslims, besides Dalits, who are generally against the BJP.
Though he maintained good relations with the BJP national leadership and supported every decision of the Modi government inside and outside Parliament, he used the friendship mostly for saving himself from the CBI cases and also stonewalling the investigation into the Vivekananda Reddy murder case etc.
“He did not realise that his reluctance to join the NDA has displeased the BJP leadership. He also had the backing of Ambanis and Adanis, who are closer to the BJP. Yet, he did not capitalise on the advantage,” a YSRCP leader said
The opportunity was quickly grabbed by Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu and with the support of Jana Sena Party chief Pawan Kalyan, he could get into the NDA fold to come to power in the state.
The seniors are apparently telling him that even now, it is not too late for Jagan to change his stand.
“Now, there is no guarantee that even minorities would vote for the YSRCP, just because it is away from the BJP. They still voted for the TDP-Jana Sena Party despite their alliance with the BJP. The Modi factor will overtake every other sentiment,” the party leaders said.
But known for his stubborn stand, it is unlikely that Jagan would succumb to such pressure from the seniors.
“Even if he agrees for the same, Jagan will have a humongous task to break the TDP-Jana Sena-BJP alliance and enter into an alliance with the BJP,” sources said.
