'Vote chori' row: Chandrababu Naidu in touch with Rahul Gandhi via Revanth Reddy, alleges Jagan Reddy
Jagan Mohan Reddy, former Andhra Pradesh CM, was responding to a query about Rahul Gandhi's 'vote chori' allegations during a press conference in Amaravati. He claimed Gandhi did not speak about 'vote chori' in Andhra Pradesh because he was in touch with him via Revanth Reddy.
Jagan Mohan Reddy, Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) president and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, on Wednesday alleged that Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader N Chandrababu Naidu is in touch with Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi through Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy on a hotline.
Reddy, a former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, was responding to a query about Gandhi's 'vote chori' allegations during a press conference in Amaravati. During the presser, Reddy claimed Gandhi did not speak about 'vote chori' in Andhra Pradesh because he is in touch with him via Revanth Reddy.
He also said that the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha does not talk about Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal, who recently lost the Assembly elections in Delhi.
"When Rahul Gandhi talks about vote chori, why does he not make a statement on Andhra, where the highest 12.5 per cent is the vote difference between what was announced versus on the counting day when the votes were counted?" Reddy said.
"Rahul Gandhi does not talk about Andhra because Chandrababu Naidu is in touch with Rahul Gandhi through Revanth Reddy on a hotline... What should I comment on someone like Rahul Gandhi, who himself is not sincere about what he does?" he added.
Chandrababu Naidu's TDP a key member of BJP-led NDA
The Chandrababu Naidu-led Telugu Desam Party (TDP) is a key member of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). The party has 16 MPs in the Lok Sabha, and the BJP, which failed to get a complete majority in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and won 240 seats, is heavily dependent on Naidu's TDP.
The TDP and the BJP were in alliance till 2018, but the former left the NDA in 2018 just before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. It contested the 2014 Lok Sabha elections with the BJP and won 16 seats. The party contested the 2019 polls separately, but without much success.
Before the 2024 general elections, the TDP re-entered the NDA, and the two sides, along with Pawan Kalyan's Jana Sena Party (JSP), swept the Lok Sabha polls in Andhra Pradesh. The alliance won 21 seats in the elections, with Naidu winning 16 seats again, therefore becoming the kingmaker in the Modi 3.0 regime. The BJP won three seats, including Anakapalle, Narsapuram and Rajahmundry. In the state polls, the TDP won 135 seats, while the JSP and the BJP won 21 and 8 seats, respectively.