Will tie up with BJP for special category status to AP: Jagan Mohan Reddy

TIRUPATI: YSR Congress president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Monday said the party was ready to go with the BJP in the 2019 elections if the Centre announced special category status to Andhra Pradesh.

He was speaking to a national news channel. Mr Reddy was repeating a statement he had made earlier, but this comes in the run-up to the elections. Besides, Mr Reddy had a surprise meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi some months ago. When asked, a senior YSRC president told this newspaper: "We have good relations with BJP, but it doesn't mean that we will join hands with it. It could be any national party that would benefit Andhra Pradesh by giving special category status.”

It was stated that the recent friction between TD and BJP leaders could lay the ground for a YSRC tie-up with the BJP. It was pointed out that AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu could only meet Mr Modi after a year. YSRC MP Vijaya Sai Reddy has also got appointments with the PM several times for one-on-one interactions.

Naidu misleading people: Jagan
Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had recently spoken of moving the Supreme Court if the Centre did not respond to the state government’s requests on pending assurances made in the AP Reorganisation Act.

“Mr Modi is having a positive attitude towards Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy. Mr Vijaya Sai Reddy is playing a crucial role in strengthening the party relations with national leaders,” said a top YSRC leader. In the interview, Mr Reddy said Mr Naidu was misleading the people as well as Mr Modi.

He said the cases against him were lodged as a revenge by the Congress and Telugu Desam. “Until I was in the Congress, there were no cases against me,” he said.