NEW DELHI: In a significant political development ahead of the Vice-Presidential election, YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) President and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has announced his party’s support for the NDA’s candidate, C.P.
Radhakrishnan. This move comes as a major blow to the opposition INDIA bloc, which had fielded a Telugu-speaking candidate, former Supreme Court judge B. Sudershan Reddy, in a strategic bid to win over regional parties.
The decision was confirmed by YSRCP’s parliamentary party leader after Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh reached out to Jagan Mohan Reddy seeking his party’s support. The YSRCP, which has 11 MPs (4 in Lok Sabha and 7 in Rajya Sabha), is not a formal member of the NDA but has a history of supporting its candidates for constitutional posts.
The party’s decision is particularly noteworthy as it comes despite the fact that its main political rival, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), is a key ally of the BJP and a part of the NDA government in Andhra Pradesh.
TDP Also Pledges Support
Adding to the setback for the INDIA bloc, TDP President and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has also reiterated his party’s full support for the NDA nominee. Naidu, in a social media post, congratulated C.P. Radhakrishnan and stated that the TDP “warmly welcomes his nomination and extends its full support.”
Strategic Miscalculation by INDIA Bloc
The INDIA bloc’s decision to field B. Sudershan Reddy, a distinguished jurist from the Telugu-speaking region, was seen as a deliberate attempt to put the NDA’s Telugu allies, namely the YSRCP and the TDP, in a difficult position. The opposition believed that the two parties would find it hard to vote against a fellow Telugu candidate.
However, the strategy appears to have backfired. Both YSRCP and TDP have chosen to stick with their political alignments. The YSRCP’s decision is seen as a move to maintain a good working relationship with the central government, while the TDP, being a key partner in the NDA, had no ambiguity in its stance.
With the YSRCP’s 11 MPs and the TDP’s significant strength, the NDA’s candidate C.P. Radhakrishnan’s victory is now considered all but certain. The development underscores the challenges faced by the INDIA bloc in consolidating support even when attempting to play the regional sentiment card.
