Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh Prime Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy’s 40-minute meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 6 has fueled speculation about the prospects for Reddy’s Yuvajana Sramika Rytu Congress (YSRC), with 22 MPs in Lok Sabha and six in Rajya Sabha, joining the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
Although there was no official confirmation from either the NDA or the YSR Congress, the speculation gained credibility in the wake of Reddy’s meeting with the prime minister just two weeks after he met with the Union Interior Minister Amit Shah. By the way, this is the second time that Jagan has met with the prime minister this year after his interaction with the latter on February 12. A PTI report quoted the head of YSRC at the assembly, G. Srikanth Reddy, as saying: “The ruling YSR Congress in Andhra Pradesh is open to a dialogue on joining the NDA at the Center if it was granted senior status. special to the state and all the promises made in the AP Reorganization Act are fulfilled. “
The need to share power
Narendra Modi and Jaganmohan Reddy, with the overwhelming mandate they won in the 2019 elections, are doing very well in Delhi and Andhra Pradesh respectively, without any instability in their governments. However, the duo apparently gravitate to each other to share power for a variety of reasons.
K. Nageshwar, an analyst from Hyderabad, said The wire that certain conveniences have been forcing Modi and Jagan to share power. “The BJP is desperate to renew its image as a party that can attract allies. Additionally, YS Jagan’s vulnerability is the persistent cases and the notoriety with which the Modi dispensation uses central agencies for a political project. Obviously, he needs the cooperation of the Center to take a break from the cases and fix his rival Chandrababu Naidu. “
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the head of the TDP, Chandrababu Naidu. Credit: PTI / Archives
Lately, the BJP has been suffering from a confidence deficit as its allies began sneaking out one after another, nervous about its policy of “cannibalism.” The latest departure of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in Punjab and the breakup of Shiv Sena in Maharashtra and the Telugu Desam Party of Chandrababu Naidu (TDP) in Andhra Pradesh in the past serve as a grim indicator. Currently, Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal United (JDU) is nervous about the prospects of downsizing to a junior partner in view of the tough stances of BJP and Lok Janshakti (LJP) acting as a spoiler for Nitish allegedly in the BJP instance on the current state elections in Bihar. After it began to play a secondary role to the BJP with its shrinking seats and participation in the votes, Shiv Sena switched sides to Congress to form the government.
To meet this challenge of perception, BJP is trying to attract Jagan’s group, Nageshwar observes.
Politically suicidal for YSRCP?
Jagan remains more loyal to the NDA than his outside partners in supporting nearly all of the bills. They include bills that negatively affect Muslim minorities that form the main segment of voters in their party, such as the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB), the repeal of section 370 that granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir. and the criminalization of the triple talaq. Additionally, Jagan’s party also backed the 2020 electricity amendment bill, regardless of the fact that it would have a debilitating impact on the promise of free energy for agriculture, a brainchild of Jagan’s father, YS Rajasekhar Reddy.
YSR members of Congress, representing a state that is the largest food grain producer alongside Punjab and Haryana, even supported the agricultural bills, regardless of their adverse implications on the procurement process. Andhra Pradesh, with two major delta regions of the Godavari and Krishna river basins and 70% small and medium farmers, produces 1.8 million tonnes of food grains annually. The government can purchase only 20% of the product. If official agencies like the Food Corporation of India (FCI) are removed from the procurement process, the distress would hit producers hard, says farmer leader Akkineni Bhavani Prasad.
“By staying out, Jagan Reddy has taken over almost every decision of the NDA. Bonhomie can be described as a coexistence relationship that deeply hurts the interests of Muslim minorities, ”says Mohammed Farooq Shubli, spokesman for AP Minorities Hakkula Parirakshana Samithi of Vijayawada. In an apparent attempt to give his government a minority face, the YSRC head accommodated six Muslim representatives: two MLCs and four MLAs. One of them has been appointed deputy prime minister.
Given the difficulties the BJP has faced in passing key bills in Rajya Sabha, the party is forced to seek potential partners with more numbers in its field. And the way the saffron party used its toughest maneuvering skills to pass the controversial farm laws in Rajya Sabha showed its bitterness.
Jagan’s party currently has six deputies in the Upper House and the numbers will rise to 10 in the next two years. Therefore, BJP needs Jagan more than Jagan needs him, says Raka Sudhakar, a political analyst.
A liability or an asset?
In Jagan’s homeland, BJP is just a drag. The BJP’s low turnout and unpopularity were evident in its poor performance in previous general elections. Despite the wave of Modi that swept across the country in that election, the BJP ended up with just a 1% vote share, which was not equal to any of the above (NOTE).
The sad spectacle was attributed to his failure to fulfill his promise of special category status for the truncated state. The saffron party is currently trying to cut Jagan’s Hindu votes by demonizing the “Christian” government led by him and alleging vandalism of Hindu religious symbols across the state.
It is a matter of credibility for Jagan Reddy if he joins the NDA without making a commitment to fulfill the promise of special category status. Reddy’s group came to power blaming Naidu for engaging with the NDA in special category status. The NDA then withdrew from announcing special status for Andhra Pradesh, fearing that it would be forced to admit similar lawsuits coming from other states, such as Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Odisha.
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