NEW DELHI: YSR Congress chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has ruled out his return to the Congress but did not entirely dismiss the idea of joining hands with the UPA at the Centre.In an interview to CNN-IBN, Jagan, who is facing a CBI probe for alleged illgotten wealth, also denied the possibility of his party having a truck with the BJP-led NDA. But in the same breath, he "thanked" Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj for standing up in his support.Asked whether he would join the NDA after the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Jagan replied, "as a party, the BJP stands for a different ideology. There will be no political pact with the BJP. We will never tie up with the BJP, pre-poll or post-poll. We will never tie up with BJP at any given juncture."He added that he had a lot of respect for Sushma Swaraj who backed him while criticising the CBI raids on his properties. "I have not yet met Sushma Swaraj but will meet her soon. I hold a lot of respect for Sushma Swaraj," he said. Justifying his willingess to support the UPA at the Centre, notwithstanding his current campaign against the Congress, he said he was interested in the development of the State. "Why should the Agriculture Ministry go to some other State at a time when farmers in Andhra Pradesh are having a hard time?" he wondered, adding that if "God gave him the numbers" he would bargain for a better deal to the State. However, he accused the Congress of targeting him deliberately and said there was no question of returning to the Congress fold. "It will never happen," he asserted.On the ongoing probe against him, he explained at length that investments in his companies were not a quid pro quo for favours bestowed on investors by his late father and former chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy.
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