The YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) has voted against the no-confidence motion that was moved against the NDA government in the Parliament, on Thursday. The party MPs have maintained that the no-confidence motion ”doesn’t carry much value” because the ruling alliance has an “absolute majority.” Mere absolute majority enjoyed by the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government may not be the absolute reason, and the YSRCP’s stance has many more reasons than what meets the eye. The party’s present stance is diametrically opposite to what it did in 2018.
The YSRCP leaders say that the party president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy wanted to make a balancing act and establish a “political neutrality in larger interests” of the State of Andhra Pradesh. Since the inception of the party, Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy has been emphasising that his party will work for the interests of the State. He seems to be following the strategies of Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik after coming to power. Political neutrality is one such move. The YSRCP benefits by maintaining equidistance from NDA and INDIA. In fact, the strategy has been helping out. The Centre has been responding positively to the State’s requests. Recent fund release by the Centre towards revenue deficit and funds for the Polavaram project were a few in that direction, YSRCP leaders say.
The YSRCP feels that its voter base is different from that of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In fact, Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy had “politely turned down” the offer from the BJP during the 2014 general elections to join the NDA alliance. Hence, aligning with the BJP formally either pre or post elections would not benefit much. Instead, maintaining cordial relations with the BJP leaders would help in developing the State and implement the promises made to the public ahead of elections. To a larger extent, it was successful, and the party is likely to continue the strategy in near future, party leaders say.
A senior functionary recalls that the YSRCP moved a no-confidence motion in 2018 to mount pressure on the Union government to accord the Special Category Status (SCS) to Andhra Pradesh. The YSRCP, which had no sufficient numbers in Parliament to move a no-confidence motion then, reached out to the floor leaders of all the opposition parties seeking their support against the NDA government in 2018. The YSRCP MPs undertook a fast at AP Bhavan demanding SCS, and even resigned in June 2018, a year before the elections. It was done in the interests of the State, a senior YSRCP leader says.
Political tussle
Now, the YSRCP said that it would vote against the no-confidence motion as the numbers were heavily stacked against it. Participating in the discussion on the motion of no confidence in the Lok Sabha, YSRCP MP P.V. Mithun Reddy said that the no-confidence motion should not be used to settle political differences. He said that the YSRCP did not want to be part of a tussle between two alliances.
The YSRCP has 22 members in the Lok Sabha.
