Speaking exclusively to the India Today Group, Jagan said he is not averse to an alliance with a BJP led by Narendra Modi. "Why not? No one is untouchable. We are willing to do business with Modi. Anybody who accepts our demands is acceptable to us," said Jagan.
Jagan Reddy made it clear he would not get into an alliance with any party that supported the division of Andhra Pradesh. "A unified Andhra is our only demand . We can have a tie-up with any party which says it will not split Andhra Pradesh. This is what people want. This is what our party wants."
While the BJP has been aggressively on the lookout for new partners to beef up the NDA ahead of the 2014 elections , the party has been one of the principal advocates of the new state of Telangana. BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi had publicly voiced his support for Telangana during his mega rally in Hyderabad on August 11.
Jagan Reddy is on a whirlwind tour meeting leaders of various political parties and lobbying for support for a unified Andhra Pradesh. Over the last few days, he has met the chief ministers of West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and Punjab. He warned these leaders not to support the division of Andhra Pradesh saying that the Congress had taken a unilateral decision on Andhra Pradesh and would do the same in other states if leaders did not voice their objection now.
In the capital on a mission to win friends and influence people, YSR Congress chief Jaganmohan Reddy has signalled the possibility of a major political realignment ahead of the 2014 general elections.
Gujarat chief minister and BJP PM nominee Narendra Modi.
Jagan told the India Today Group, "What the Congress is doing is unprecedented. When NDA decided to bifurcate three states, the state Assemblies first passed a unanimous resolution backing the division. But in Andhra Pradesh, the Congress is forcing this decision on people without waiting for the state Assembly to pass a resolution backing the bifurcation. This can become a template for splitting other states in future. All chief ministers need to be very careful.'
Jagan now joins Telugu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu in saying that he is not opposed to doing business with Narendra Modi. Chandrababu Naidu had shared a stage with Modi in October and has been praising the Gujarat model of growth and Modi's skills as an able administrator. The Congress had long hoped that because Jagan's new party relies heavily on minority support and Jagan himself is a Christian, the YSR Congress will stay away from embracing Modi who still carries the taint of the Gujarat riots of 2002 and is distrusted by a section of the minorities. But Jagan's comments to the India Today Group make it clear that he does not think of Modi as an untouchable. After Jagan's comments, the BJP now needs to decide whether it wants to tie-up with TDP or go with the YSR Congress.
BJP leaders in Andhra Pradesh feel that Jagan is on a stronger wicket than Chandrababu Naidu and that the party should not rush into an alliance with the TDP without carefully evaluating all options. The latest opinion poll done in the first week of December by research agency Nielsen for a regional news channel in Andhra Pradesh shows the YSR Congress emerging as the largest party in united Andhra Pradesh. Out of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh, the YSR Congress is projected to bag between 23-25 seats, while the Telangana based TRS is projected to come in second picking up between 8-10 seats. The Congress' tally is shown crashing from 33 to between 3-5. The TDP too is likely to be in the range of 3-5. By itself the BJP is projected to only between 0-1 seats. An alliance with either TDP or YSR Congress can help the BJP push up its tally in this crucial battleground state in the South.
Jagan Reddy made it clear that there is absolutely no question of entering into any form of a post-poll alliance with the Congress . Senior Congress leaders have been expressing confidence that they would be able to win over Jagan after the results come out. But Jagan told the India Today Group, "After what the Congress has done to me, do you think there is any possibility of an alliance with the party? No Congress leader is in touch with me and there is no question of allying with the Congress."
Political pundits feel that with the fear of being hauled back to prison looming over his head, Jagan Reddy needs to be on the right side of the next dispensation in Delhi. This is the reason why Jagan Reddy has been warming up to Modi and praising his administrative skills. However, with the BJP already having taken a firm position on Telangana, the party will find it very difficult to now do a somersault in the hope of bagging Jagan's support. The multiple charges of corruption against Jagan Reddy is another problem that the BJP will have to deal with since Modi has been attacking the Congress for practising the politics of opportunism and would not like to be seen to be entering into an alliance with a leader who has 10 chargesheets against him. Given these considerations, the possibility of a post poll tie up with Jagan is much higher than that of a pre-poll alliance.
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