BENGALURU: After hobnobbing with TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu during the elections, is the JDS now trying to cosy up to his arch-rival and now Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy? Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil Kumar’s ‘courtesy call’ to Jagan Mohan Reddy on Tuesday seems to indicate this. The YSRCP believes that Tuesday’s meeting, as casual, informal and small as it may have been, is just the first of many outreach attempts.
When a number of political leaders, including the chiefs of regional parties, bore witness to Kumaraswamy taking oath as Chief Minister of Karnataka, YSRCP chief Jagan Mohan Reddy wasn’t present. Neither Kumaraswamy nor JDS supremo H D Deve Gowda were at Jagan’s swearing-in ceremony, but Nikhil’s impromptu meeting is being seen as the JDS’ subtle attempt at bonhomie with YSRCP and its chief. Interestingly, it was Nikhil, who lost during his electoral debut, and not PWD minister H D Revanna’s son and the JDS’ lone MP Prajwal, who met Jagan.
“His fight that lasted more than a decade and his path to success is an inspiration to young politicians,” Nikhil posted on his Facebook page after the meeting. While JDS maintained that it was merely a courtesy call from a young political leader to the youngest Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, YSRCP looks at it as an attempt to cosy up to the regional giant.
“Now is the time of young politicians. Stalin introduced his son Udayanidhi to Jagan. K Chandrashekhar Rao is prepping his son K T Rama Rao to take over next. Jagan is a young Chief minister, and Nikhil, who aspires to be an elected representative, would like to be counted among the group of young next-generation leaders from the South,” said a source close to Jagan.
YSRCP also believes that considering the number of its MPs in the Lok Sabha, Congress and its allies would want its support to take on the BJP in the Parliament. “Neither do we need the BJP, nor does the BJP need us but for the welfare of the state, being in good terms with the Central government is beneficial,” said a source from Jagan’s office.