YSRCP Open to Talks on Joining NDA if Special Status to Andhra, Other Promises are Fulfilled: Senior Leader

The ruling YSR Congress in Andhra Pradesh was open to a dialogue on joining the NDA at the Centre if the special category status to the state was accorded and all promises made in the AP Reorganisation Act are fulfilled, senior YSRCP leader and Chief Whip in the Assembly G Srikanth Reddy said on Monday. His comments came on a day when Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy left for New Delhi to participate in the Apex Council meeting on water issues on Tuesday and is also scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Jagan's meeting with Modi has led rising of political temperature in the state as speculation is rife that the YSR Congress may join the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), an assumption vehemently rejected by Srikanth Reddy. He said they were open for a discussion on joining the NDA if the Centre fulfilled all promises made in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act and accords Special Category Status which were promised by during the bifurcation of the state in 2014 to carve out Telangana.

Our joining the NDA is pure speculation. We have said (earlier) without fulfilling the long standing demands of Special Status, we cannot think about it (joining the NDA). "We are more concerned about the welfare of our state. If they consider all issues that are mentioned in the bifurcation (AP Reorganisation Act) act and announce special category status, then we will try to discuss that. We will start a dialogue, Srikanth Reddy told PTI.

He, however, said there was neither any invitation from the NDA nor any proposal from YSRCP to join the alliance. Replying to a query, he said Jagan's meeting with the PM was purely for discussing development issues concerning the state and nothing to do with politics.

The apex council, constituted as per the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, comprises the Chief Ministers of the two states as members and is headed by the Union Water Resources Minister. Differences have cropped up between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh in recent months over the construction of projects in both the states.