Vice-presidential polls: YSRCP to back NDA candidate

Senior leader Botsa Satyanarayana said that YSRCP's longstanding policy opposes any numbers game when it comes to constitutional positions.

Hyderabad: YSRCP senior leader and MLC Botsa Satyanarayana has clarified his party's position regarding the upcoming vice-presidential elections.

He said that YSRCP's longstanding policy opposes any numbers game when it comes to constitutional positions, a principle the party has maintained since its inception.

Satyanarayana cited historical precedent, recalling how party leader YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had previously supported Pranab Mukherjee for President's post during the Congress tenure.

Following this same approach, he announced that YSRCP will now extend its support to the NDA's vice-presidential candidate. The party holds significant influence with 11 members across both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

“Our party's policy that constitutional posts should not have any contest. There's no deviation from it. Even in the past, during Congress tenure we supported Pranab Mukherjee,” Satyanarayana told reporters in Rajahmundry.

When asked about Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy's request that all the parties from both the Telugu states to support I.N.D.I.A. bloc's candidate invoking Telugu pride, Satyanarayana said that they would not consider his request to support a Telugu candidate. He counter-questioned, asking whether the NDA vice-president candidate is not from South India.

In an unexpected boost for the NDA, YSRCP which belongs to neither the NDA nor the I.N.D.I.A. bloc has decided to support the ruling alliance's candidate. TDP had already welcomed CP Radhakrishnan's selection as the vice-presidential candidate and pledged full support.

YSRCP supremo Jagan received a phone call from Defence Minister Rajnath Singh few days ago, seeking his party's support for the upcoming election.

The party's decision to support the NDA candidate was later conveyed through YSRCP parliamentary party leader YV Subba Reddy even before the I.N.D.I.A. bloc announced its candidate as former supreme court judge, B Sudershan Reddy.

YSRCP has previously supported several NDA bills in Parliament, including the CAA, NRC, and Article 370 bills, though it opposed the Waqf Amendment Bill. The party also backed BJP's Om Birla for Lok Sabha Speaker.

Among other issues Satyanarayana also said that YSRCP will fight against the privatisation of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) and continue to highlight the failures of coalition government and the inefficiency of Chandrababu Naidu.

Satyanarayana added that that former chief minister Jagan has time and again told during electioneering that every vote to coalition is a vote for privatisation of VSP and it is coming true now.

"Chandrababu Naidu has never spoken against the privatisation of VSP and during his Delhi trips has never broached the issue which shows that he is with the Centre’s policy of privatising the VSP, which has emotional attachment with the people of the State. We will join hands with any party that opposes privatisation," he concluded.