New DelhiAugust 18, 2025 03:14 PM IST
First published on: Aug 18, 2025 at 03:14 PM IST
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The NDA’s vice-presidential pick, C P Radhakrishnan, has got a shot in the arm with the Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) deciding to support his candidature in the September 9 poll.
According to sources, the YSRCP made the decision after a call by Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to Jagan on August 13, seeking support for Radhakrishnan’s candidature. The NDA only announced Radhakrishnan as its candidate on August 17.
“Subsequently, our party chief held discussions with the MPs and our Parliamentary Party leader Y V Subba Reddy conveyed his decision to us,” YSRCP Tirupati MP Maddila Gurumoorthy told The Indian Express.
While the YSRCP has four MPs in the Lok Sabha, the party’s Rajampet MP is currently in jail in connection with the alleged Rs 3,200 crore Andhra Pradesh liquor scam. The party has seven members in the Upper House.
The MPs of both Houses vote in the vice-presidential election, and the NDA is comfortably placed to ensure a win for its candidate.
Saying that the YSRCP had no plans to issue a whip for the election given its handful of MPs, Gurumoorthy said, “We will abide by the party’s decision and support Radhakrishnan in case an election is forced.”
Given that Jagan’s support does not account for much numerically, the move is being seen as an olive branch by the YSRCP to the BJP. Some others feel it is the BJP’s bid to keep the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the NDA’s second-largest constituent, and the YSRCP’s main rival in Andhra Pradesh, in check.
“Since the YSRCP’s poor performance in the simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections last year, Jagan has maintained a friendly stance towards the BJP,” a source close to Jagan said, adding that this had become even more imperative for the party after the setback it faced in panchayat bypolls in Pulivendula, the backyard of the YSR family.
The bypolls for the Pulivendula and Vontimitta zilla parishads were marred by violence and saw YSRCP Kadapa MP Y S Avinash Reddy as well as TDP MLC Ram Gopal Reddy being taken into preventive custody.
However, another YSRCP leader said that seeking support from Jagan, especially when it was not really required, only shows that the BJP wants to ensure that the TDP is “kept in line”. “Why else would they reach out to us? We have a minimal presence in both Houses. It is just another way the BJP is using to send out a message to the TDP that it is not indispensable,” the leader added.
Since its 2024 defeat, the YSRCP has been extending “issue-based” support to the NDA. It also supported the ruling alliance’s candidate in the election of Om Birla as Speaker of the Lok Sabha. In April, it left it to its “MPs’ discretion” how to vote on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill. However, it subsequently moved the Supreme Court against the Bill. Andhra has a substantial Muslim population which could be one reason for the YSRCP’s caution on the matter.