With the BJP likely to join hands with the TDP-JSP alliance in Andhra Pradesh, the state’s ruling YSR Congress said on Friday that even if all the parties come together, they will not be able to stop chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy from another victory.
Amid reports of an agreement over seat-sharing between the BJP and the Telugu Desam-Jana Sena combine, YSR Congress General Secretary Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy said their “desperate” attempts for an alliance reflect their “weakness” and the “strength” of Jagan Mohan Reddy.
“No matter what they do, we have the support of more than 50 per cent of people and hence even if they come together the victory is ours,” he told reporters here.
TDP President N. Chandrababu Naidu and Jana Sena leader Pawan Kalyan on Thursday met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP President J. P. Nadda in New Delhi to discuss seat-sharing.
The YSRCP leader said the coming together of different parties also shows their similarities.
“The TDP is on a ventilator. Jana Sena has no presence and everyone knows how many votes the BJP polled in the state. After seeing all this, what the result of their alliance will be becomes clear,” Ramakrishna Reddy said, claiming that people have understood their “failure politics”.
Claiming that the YSRCP is ready for elections with clear plans and discipline but other parties are like students who have not even started the preparations, he predicted that the rival camp will see more dissidence and infighting for seats in the coming days.
Stating that the TDP is on the ventilator, Ramakrishna Reddy said that Chandrababu Naidu is making desperate attempts for an alliance to revive it. “He is desperate. He feels that if he misses this chance, it will be all over for him. As a last attempt, he is trying to grasp at straws to reach the shore. If some people think that this is his strength and he can do something, it is their delusion,” he said.
Ramakrishna Reddy, who is also an advisor to the government on public affairs, said the TDP chief always tries to seek someone’s help. “This does not work every time. In 2009, he formed an alliance but he did not succeed. This time, he has adopted a different trick. He is not only controlling the BJP but also the Congress. He is trying to bring all the forces together. His attempts prove Jagan’s strength and the public support he enjoys,” he said.
He also claimed that on Chandrababu Naidu’s advice, Congress state chief Y.S. Sharmila – the sister of Jagan Mohan Reddy – is running on rent a party which has already gone bankrupt.
Dubbing Chandrababu Naidu a national and international “scamster”, the YSRCP leader alleged that the Skill Development, Amaravati Inner Ring Road, and other scams were similar to the IMG Bharat scam which had exposed Chandrababu Naidu 20 years ago. He said in 2007, the then government of Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy had constituted an inquiry commission to probe the scam and recently Jagan Mohan Reddy exposed the TDP leader.