Andhra Pradesh is perhaps the only State where both the ruling Telugu Desam and the main Opposition YSR Congress Party are extending their support to the NDA’s presidential candidate, Ram Nath Kovind.
Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu extended ‘total support’ to Mr. Kovind and said that it was the best selection for the highest office in the country. He also agreed to persuade West Bengal CM Mamata Banarjee to back him.
Mr. Naidu got a call from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday while he was conducting a virtual inspection of the ongoing works at Polavaram project site. Stating that Mr. Kovind was chosen as NDA candidate for the presidential election, Mr. Modi urged the TDP president to support his candidature.
The Prime Minister also asked him to talk to Ms. Banerjee seeking her support. The Chief Minister told Mr. Modi that Mr. Kovind was the right choice.
Promise kept
Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly and president of the YSR Congress Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy also expressed his support to Mr. Kovind. This was in tune with his assurance of support to the Prime Minister when he met him in Delhi last month.
In a brief press release on Monday, the YSR Congress Party said that the party took the decision to extend “full support” to Mr. Kovind after BJP president Amit Shah’s request to him over telephone.
But the leaders of the Congress, which does not have even a single MLA in the A.P. Assembly, are disappointed as their demand that the TDP and the YSRCP extend support to the NDA’s presidential candidate on the condition that the Centre grants Special Category Status (SCS) for Andhra Pradesh was not considered
