 | « Back to article | Print this article |
Despite an uneasy relationship between the Congress and Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, Presidential nominee Pranab Mukherjee has reached out to the mother of the rebel leader to seek her party's support in the election.
Mukherjee, the ruling United Progressive Alliance's nominee, spoke to Jagan's mother Vijayamma a few days ago, requesting that her party support him in the July 19 Presidential election.
"He (Pranab Mukherjee) spoke to me when I was in Vishakapatnam on a tour. He sought our party's support for his Presidential bid. We did not give any commitment to him," said Vijayamma.
She said the YSR Congress has not taken any decision on whom to support in the Presidential election as Opposition-backed candidate P A Sangma has also approached them.
YSR Congress has 17 Members of Legislative Assembly in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly and 2 Members of Parliament in Lok Sabha.
"While Pranab called me, Sangma came home and met me. But we have not yet decided on our stand," she said.
When pressed whether the party would be more inclined to supporting Mukherjee as it would not want to side with the BJP, which is backing Sangma, she said, "There is enough time to decide on this."
Congress and YSR Congress share an uneasy relationship after Jagan quit the Congress and floated his own outfit, which is eating into his former party's vote bank.
YSR Congress swept the recent by-elections to 18 assembly constituencies by bagging 15 seats and winning a Lok Sabha seat.
The YSR Congress aspires to rout the Congress and Telugu Desam Party in the 2014 assembly elections and establish its government in Andhra Pradesh.