YSR Congress party president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy is said to be keen on joining the INDIA bloc of the opposition parties at the national level, but the Congress, which is the leading partner of the NDA is not very keen on admitting him.
During his recent dharna in New Delhi against the alleged failure of law and order in the state, Jagan and his party leaders invite most of the INDIA bloc leaders, including Akhilesh Yadav from Samajwadi Party, Sanjay Raut from Shiv Sena (UT) group, Priyanka Chaturvedi, Trinamul Congress leader Nadeem-ul-Haq, Aam Admi Party, ADMK and IUML leaders.
Though YSRCP leaders extended invitation to Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, he did not turn up; nor did any of the other Congress leaders.
“I don’t know what the reason was for the absence of Congress leaders. I would have been better had the Congress also extended support to us,” Jagan said.
Apparently, Jagan is learnt to have felt that Naidu had influenced the Congress leaders through his protégé and Telangana PCC chief A Revanth Reddy and ensured that the Congress did not support his dharna.
Sources, however, said the Congress leadership obtained feedback from the party leaders in Andhra Pradesh, particularly Jagan’s sister Sharmila, and came to the conclusion that the law and order situation is not so bad in AP as Jagan is projecting.
On Saturday, Sharmila tweeted, attacking her brother for questioning the Congress for not supporting his dharna in New Delhi.
“Why should the Congress support you? Is it for enacting a drama in Delhi for the survival of your party?” she asked.
Sharmila alleged that the YSRCP chief was trying to smear political colour to a personal murder.
“It is ridiculous on the part of Jagan to seek the support of the Congress, while having illegal connections with the BJP for five years and mortgaging the interests of the state, including special category status, with the Centre,” she said.
She lashed out at Jagan for raising the issue of law and order in Andhra Pradesh, while keeping silent on the murder of Christians in Manipur.
“He has never uttered a word against violence in Manipur, while making a hue and cry over a non-existing situation in Andhra Pradesh,” she said.
Sharmila sought to know why Jagan had not extended solidarity with the Congress in the past, when it had taken up nation-wide agitation against Manipur violence.
“Jagan’s protest dharna in New Delhi is only for his personal interest and not for the benefit of the state,” she said.
Recalling Jagan’s Siddham slogan, she asked whether he had not enough strength to fight against Naidu that forced him to seek the support of other parties in the country.