YSR Congress president Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy has accepted defeat in Seemandhra and said his party will play a responsible and constructive role in the Opposition for the next five years.

“People believed in the ‘Modi wave’ and the false promises of TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu and voted for the combine. We respect their verdict and wholeheartedly admit defeat with a vow to stand by them in their hour of need in the next five years,” Mr. Jaganmohan Reddy said while reacting to the poll outcome here on Friday.

He thanked everyone who had expressed faith in YSRC and voted for the party, and complimented Mr. Modi, Mr. Naidu and TRS president K. Chandrasekhar Rao for their success in the elections. Mr. Jaganmohan Reddy exuded confidence that his party would come to power after five years.

“We had one MP and one MLA when we formed the party. In the by-elections, our strength rose to two MPs and 20 MLAs and now, we are about 70 MLAs and 10 MPs. We are confident of recovering from the defeat and bouncing back to power in the next elections,” Mr. Jaganmohan Reddy stated.

On the prospects of the YSR Congress entering into a post-poll alliance, Mr. Jaganmohan Reddy said they would ally only with people and not with any other political party. The party will take up any issue concerning people over the next five years, he added.