Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, who is yet to pledge his government’s support to the central government, will attend an all-party meeting convened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday to discuss the escalation of tensions with China following the killing of 20 Indian Army personnel in clashes at Ladakh’s Galwan Valley.
Jagan’s Telangana counterpart K Chandrasekhara Rao, former chief minister and TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu, Edappadi K Palaniswami and O Panneerselvam from AIADMK, M K Stalin from DMK, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, BJP president J P Nadda, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, NCP’s Sharad Pawar, JDU’s Nitish Kumar, Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav, CPI’s D Raja, CPM’s Sitaram Yechury and several other important leaders will attend the video-conference.
In the video-conference addressed by Modi on the corona situation in the country, the Telangana CM had already pledged in no uncertain terms his support to the Modi government stating that internal security should not be compromised at any cost. “This is the time when everyone should be united and speak in one voice. No one should politicise the issue. We should give a befitting reply to any country that questions the sovereignty and integrity of India,” KCR had told the Prime Minister.
Jagan had passed a condolence resolution in the Assembly and observed a two-minute silence with his colleagues as a mark of respect to the martyred soldiers. “I am deeply distressed after hearing the news of the attack on our soldiers. I read in the newspapers that 20 jawans were killed, including Santosh Babu from Suryapet. The sacrifice of Colonel Santosh Babu will forever be remembered by the Telugu people. I express deep condolences to the bereaved families,” he had told the Assembly while passing the condolence resolution. However, unlike his Telangana counterpart, Jagan did not issue any official statement pledging his government’s support to the Modi government.
On his part, former CM Chandrababu Naidu had expressed his party’s solidarity to the central government. At a recent TDLP video-conference, Naidu had paid tribute to the 20 Army personnel who laid down their lives in hand-to-hand combat with the Chinese troops. The TDLP condemned China for its provocative bid to ingress into the Indian territory.
