BJP Wanted YSRCP In Cabinet, Jagan Backed Out Last Minute: Report

The Reddy-led party’s present move has been made with keeping an eye on the future opportunities, sources said, pointing at the efforts being made to unite the Opposition.

Though the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) successfully managed to rope in the Janata Dal United (JDU) from Bihar in the Union Cabinet in the recent reshuffle, the saffron party’s attempt to induct a key regional party from the south, the Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), failed after the regional party rejected the idea at the last minute, The Indian Express reported.

Having tried to get the YSRCP into a pre-poll alliance ahead of the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP, according to sources, resumed talks with Reddy before the July 7 Cabinet expansion. “The process was initiated to have YSRCP in the Cabinet. The deal was almost done. There were offers of a Cabinet post, an Independent charge and a Minister of State. But later, the discussion came round to two Cabinet posts and the BJP leadership was not ready for it,” a source familiar with the development told The Indian Express, adding that Reddy “had the inclination” to join the government and had even “finalised the names” for the posts.

YSRCP parliamentary party leader V Vijayasai Reddy, when questioned whether the parties had come close to clinching a deal, told the newspaper: “There were some discussions. But only the Honourable Chief Minister can comment on what happened.”

While Reddy’s decision to not accept the offer “infuriated the BJP leadership”, the Andhra CM maintained that he “would remain friendly towards the Centre and extend issue-based backing to it”, a source said.

Since 2014, when the Narendra Modi-led NDA clinched the power at the centre, the YSRCP been averse to joining the NDA government despite being open to offering issue-based support. The sources said that the Jagan Mohan Reddy-led party’s present move has been made with keeping an eye on the future opportunities for the party, pointing to efforts by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and poll strategist Prashant Kishor to cobble up an anti-BJP front ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha election, the IE report stated.

Kishor’s attempts to rope in YSRCP into the anti-BJP conglomerate of parties have sent “disturbing” signals to the BJP leadership, sources said.

Kishor, who worked for YSRCP in the 2019 Assembly and Lok Sabha elections, “mooted the idea of parties coming together against the BJP” before the next Lok Sabha elections, admitted the sources in the YSRCP.