Will Not Align With BJP: Jagan

YSR Congress Party President Y S Jaganmohan Reddy on Thursday categorically stated that he would not align with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after winning the Kadapa Lok Sabha by-elections, as alleged by Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) President D Srinivas.

Addressing a public meeting as part of the election campaign in the Kadapa district, Jagan rubbished the statements made by Srinivas, and stated that the PCC chief was making these "baseless allegations" since he was skeptical about the chances of Congress candidates D L Ravindra Reddy and Y S Vivekananda Reddy winning the by-elections, and wanted to lure away the minorities' support for the former Kadapa MP.

The PCC chief had stated that the BJP had a secret understanding with Jagan, and that it had deputed Karnataka Minister Gali Janardhan Reddy to hold parleys with the YSR Congress Party chief.

Jagan said that the Congress was resorting to a malicious campaign as it was unable to counter him politically. He further added that the government has registered 7,000 bind-over cases on YSR Congress Party activists and was harassing them.

Despite using his father and former Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy's photo in the by-elections, the Congress has stooped to field his uncle Y S Vivekananda Reddy against his mother Y S Vijayalakshmi Reddy, alleged Jagan.

Questioning the rationale behind serving show-causes notices only to 4 Congress legislators instead of serving it against all the MLAs who were supporting him, the YSR Congress chief dared PCC chief D Srinivas to initiate action against all MLAs immediately.

Jagan further alleged that both the Congress Party and the Telugu Desam Party have hatched a conspiracy to defeat him in the elections. He, however, expressed confidence that the people of his constituency would vote in favour of the YSR Congress Party only. (INN)