YSRCP is our 'friend' if it does not align with Cong, BJP: TRS

Ahead of the Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh this year, the TRS Friday said the Y S Jaganmohan Reddy-led YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) can be its 'friend' if it does not align with the Congress or the BJP.

On whether the TRS would support the YSRCP in Andhra Pradesh where assembly elections are scheduled to be held along with Lok Sabha polls in April-May, TRS spokesperson Abid Rasool Khan said no such decision has been taken.

"That's (whether to support YSRCP) a call Mr KCR (Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao who leads the Telangana Rashtra Samiti) has to take," Khan told PTI.

YSRCP is the main opposition in Andhra Pradesh, where the N Chandrababu Naidu-led Telugu Desam Party (TDP) is in power.

In last month's elections to the Telangana Assembly, the Congress, the TDP, the Telangana Jana Samiti and the Communist Party of India had formed a pre-poll alliance to take on the TRS but the grouping came a cropper.

The TRS returned to power with 88 seats in the 119-member assembly, pushing the Congress to a distant second position with 19 seats. The TDP bagged a mere two seats, while the TJS and the CPI drew a blank.

During campaigning, Naidu had come under blistering attack from TRS leaders, who alleged that if the Congress-led alliance were to come to power, he would call the shots and also invoked the "Telangana pride".

After the election victory, KCR had said Naidu would get a "return gift", indicating that the TRS is keen to see that the TDP is defeated, but did not elaborate on his party's strategy in this regard.

He said the TRS would certainly spread the message that Naidu "cannot be trusted as sometimes he goes with the BJP, and sometimes with the Congress."