While in power, the YSR Congress Party president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy enjoyed a cosy relationship with the BJP leadership and extended unqualified support to all the legislations, including the controversial ones, introduced by the NDA government during the period 2019-24.
However, after losing power in the recent elections, he is now gravitating towards the INDIA bloc. Several partners of the opposition alliance threw their weight behind Jagan when he and his party colleagues held a dharna in Delhi to protest against the growing post-poll political violence being perpetrated by the ruling Telugu Desam Party in Andhra Pradesh.
Several leaders of the INDIA bloc including Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, Shiv Sena’s (Uddhav faction) Sanjay Raut and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee expressed solidarity with Jagan and extended support to his cause.
Since its inception in 2011, the YSRCP has never formally aligned with either of the two national parties—Congress or BJP. But, since the advent of the Modi era, the regional party warmed up to the saffron party, supporting the Centre on several crucial Bills. As recently as the Lok Sabha Speaker’s election after the polls, the YSRCP backed the BJP’s Om Birla.
However, the political pendulum appears to be shifting now, as Jagan’s bete noir and TDP president is the BJP’s new partner and has captured power in Andhra.
On Wednesday, Jagan, whose party is now reduced to four MPs in the Parliament and 11 MLAs in the Assembly, hosted several Opposition leaders on his protest stage, including Akhilesh and leaders of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav), Trinamool Congress and Tamil Nadu Dalit outfit VCK.
Significantly, the Congress has stayed away from the event, though an invitation was sent to the party to join the protest programme.
Jagan had floated the YSRCP after parting ways with the Congress in 2011, two years after the death of his father and former Andhra CM Y S Rajasekhara Reddy in a helicopter crash.
Asked by the media if his new company meant he was joining the INDIA bloc, Jagan dodged replying directly and said he had sought support “from all parties which condemn violence”, and not just INDIA constituents. The YSRCP chief, who has been claiming that the ruling TDP cadres have been attacking his partymen since the results back in Andhra, pointed out that he had also sought appointments with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the issue.
The YSRCP claims that 31 of its workers have been killed in post-poll violence in Andhra while 35 others had died by suicide due to “harassment” by the TDP. The party released a book called ‘Rakta Charitra’ at the Wednesday protest, which claims that 300 murder attempts had been made on YSRCP leaders.
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