By supporting Om Birla, the YSRCP believes the BJP will swing by whenever the TDP tries to exact revenge for harassing its leaders when the latter was in the Opposition.
YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and Chandrababu Naidu. (Facebook)
YSRCP supremo YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s decision to support NDA’s Om Birla as the Speaker of the Lok Sabha has left many surprised.
The TDP-Jana Sena-BJP combine in Andhra Pradesh had trounced the YSRCP in the recent general elections. Yet, Jagan decided to support Birla following the Opposition’s move to field Kodikunnil Suresh of the Congress.
Jagan’s move has been viewed as deft since he has to handle future developments with limited resources.
The widespread belief in Andhra Pradesh is that Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu is unlikely to forget the way he was arrested and thrown into the Rajamahendravaram Central Prison.
Naidu was arrested on 9 September morning in the alleged multi-crore skill development scam.
With the BJP performing below its expectations in the elections, Modi now has to depend on Naidu for his government’s survival. Naidu is expected to take full advantage of the situation.
YSRCP sources told South First that Jagan’s decision to support the NDA candidate for the Lok Sabha Speaker’s post was rooted in his desire to continue his relations with the BJP, though technically, the YSRCP had challenged it in the hustings.
While in power, Jagan remained a covert friend of Modi and the BJP. However, he did not openly support the BJP for fear of losing the support of the Muslims. However, YSRCP chipped in whenever the BJP needed its support.
The YSRCP now has four members in the Lok Sabha and 11 in the Rajya Sabha. The party is still some force in Parliament and the YSRCP expects that the BJP would not lose sight of its significance particularly when Naidu exerts pressure on the BJP to act against Jagan.
This is one step the YSRCP chief wants to take to stay afloat though the situation is not conducive for him to fight Naidu with the little ammunition at his disposal.
Jagan, as if reading the writing on the wall on the day he lost the election, said he had to prepare for tough days ahead, implying that the TDP would go after him, taking vengeance for harassing Naidu and other TDP leaders while they were in the Opposition.
It looks as though supporting the NDA in the election to the speaker’s post was the first political step in preventing the inevitable to the extent possible.
Sources said that the BJP knows that Jagan is more of a trusted friend than Naidu though the latter is in the NDA. They hope that Modi will rise to Jagan’s rescue when the push comes to a shove.
(Edited by Majnu Babu).
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