'Jagan Is Very Dictatorial'

'Chandrababu is wiser and a very good administrator.'
'Jagan is the opposite. He is not very wise, not a good administrator.'

Andhra Pradesh votes in the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha elections and for a new state government on May 13, 2024.

The current ruling party, the YSR Congress, has decided to go it alone, while the main Opposition party the Telugu Desam Party has allied with the Bharatiya Janata Party and actor Pawan Kalyan's Jana Sena Party.

The Congress, buoyed by its win in neighbouring Telangana's assembly elections last year, has allied with the three Communist parties to make up the third front.

"Chandrababu Naidu was pressurised to join the BJP alliance. Nothing astute about it," state Communist Party of India's secretary K Ramakrishnan tells Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar.

We have seen three phases of polling so far, four more to go. What is your assessment of the outcome nationwide

At the time of announcement of election they created an atmosphere of their victory.

Their party getting 370, and the NDA over 400. After three phases we are seeing that INDIA is gaining.

In Tamil Nadu and Kerala they will not win a single seat. Even in Maharashtra they are going to lose badly.

What gives you the confidence to say so, what are you basing your assessment on?

I am going by press reports and other information we get from our party.

Even the tone of the BJP leaders has changed.

In Andhra the TDP has given them too many seats. They don't have even 1% vote share.

How do you see the electoral outcome in Andhra, in the light of Narendra Modi's southern push? On paper the BJP-TDP-JSP alliance seems strong. Will the combination deliver at the hustings?

The regional parties in Andhra are very strong. The national parties's strength is negligible.

In Tamil Nadu the regional parties are strong, but they need allies like the Congress, PMK, VCK, MDMK to make the winning margin.

In Andhra the regional players do not need anyone to ally with them. They are capable of winning on their own.

That is why the YSR Congress is going on its own.

The TDP was forced to go with the BJP because they threatened him with the cases against him.

The Left was wooing Chandrababu Naidu before he decided to go with the BJP. Astute as he is, Naidu must have chosen the winning side?

Naidu was pressurised to join the BJP alliance. Nothing astute about it.

How much does ideology matter in politics? Has it been replaced by expediency?

There was a time when ideology mattered, not any more.

Now what matters is cadre strength and more important, financial strength.

The INDIA group does not seem very cohesive. Is anti-BJP or anti-Modi its only glue? For instance, will the Left be a part of a government with Mamata Bannerjee in it? Or vice versa?

The regional parties have their state interest and their own agenda. But what is important is that they are secular. Both Jagan and Chandrababu are secular.

If we get a majority we will form the government with a common minimum programme.

Has the Opposition alliance held any talks on the likely scenarios post-June 4?

If we win we will form the government, If we lose we will form a strong Opposition.

How do you manage to oppose the Congress in Bengal and Kerala and ally with them in the rest of the country?

In Bengal we are with the Congress fighting Mamata, we are fighting them only in Kerala. There's nothing wrong.

We will work together with a common minimum programme.

The new capital city Amravati doesn't have an airport, doesn't even have a railway station. Is it a good choice? Wouldn't Vijayawada or Visakhapatnam have been a better choice?

When Chandrababu announced Amravati as the new capital on the floor of the House Jagan supported the idea. But when he became chief minister he neglected it and announced three capitals, which was put down by the high court. Even then he neglected Amravati.

Chandrababu Naidu and Jagan Mohan Reddy, how do you compare the two?

Chandrababu is older, wiser and a very good administrator.

Jagan is the opposite. He is younger, not very wise, not a good administrator and very dictatorial.

The Congress in the last election did not do very well, but yet you allied with them.

We are a part of the INDIA group at the Centre and so we have to go with the Congress here as a part of that alliance.

Will Modi's visits to the state have any effect?

There will be some effect, but not positive.

Has Rahul Gandhi's padyatra had any effect in Andhra?

He spent only three days in Andhra. He spent a lot of time in Karnataka and Telangana and you saw the effect there.

Andhra has a lopsided development, while one end is well developed the other end is not.

That is the case with every state, not only Andhra. Because of this lopsided development there is a lot of internal migration within the state.

We need to develop both industry and agriculture.

With every election the Communists seem to be losing space. Where do you go from here?

In the current Parliament we have five members. This will definitely go up.

• INDIA VOTES, 2024

Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff.com