AP – where all parties vote stood united

The three political parties in Andhra Pradesh have come together on one issue for the first time. There is no difference of opinion among them. Perhaps AP is the only state where the parties having representation in the Assembly have unanimity.

The occasion is the Presidential election. The ruling YSR Congress Party, Opposition Telugu Desam Party and the junior partner, Jana Sena have come to an understanding in this election. All the three parties are voting for a single candidate in the Presidential election.

The ruling YSR Congress had extended its support to the BJP-sponsored NDA candidate, Droupadi Murmu, in the presidential election. The party has 151 MLAs, 22 Lok Sabha members and 9 Rajya Sabha members. The party claimed that its support is because of the candidate who represents the Scheduled Tribes.

A little later, the opposition TDP too had extended its support to the NDA candidate claiming that it had supported K R Narayanan (SC), A P J Adbul Kalam (Minorities) and Ram Nath Kovind (SC) in the past in the presidential elections. The TDP too would back Droupadi Murmu (ST) in the present election.

The Jana Sena, which has one MLA in the Assembly, neither announced its support nor declined. The MLA is, for all practical purposes, identified as the Jana Sena member in the Assembly. However, the party has had no contact with its lone MLA Rapaka Vara Prasada Rao, since his election. He has been working with the ruling party from the day one and thus he toed the line of the ruling YSR Congress.

Thus, the three parties have common understanding, not on issues concerning the state or its people, but in the presidential election!