Jagan's panic reaction to Telangana verdict triggers turmoil in YSRCP

Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy may have an extraordinary strength of 151 MLAs in the 175-member Andhra Pradesh Assembly, but his response to the Telangana election results is seen by Opposition parties as a panic reaction.

The past fortnight has been a turbulent period for the ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), as two MLAs quit the party and joined the Telugu Desam Party (TDP). A former MLC and senior leaders from more than a dozen constituencies across the state also joined the main Opposition party and vowed to defeat the YSR Congress.

The hectic activities in the Tadepalli residence of Jagan, which is generally called Tadepalli Palace, an Andhra equivalent of KCR’s high-security Erravalli Farmhouse in Telangana, are drawing strange comments from Opposition parties. TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu said the YSRCP is a sinking boat and those who don't jump out will also sink with it. 

Andhra Pradesh Congress president Gidugu Rudraraju dared Jagan to drop the names 'YSR' (the late YS Rajasekhara Reddy, a Congressman and father of Jagan) and 'Congress' from the name YSRCP and then fight an election, if he is as popular as he claims to be.

CPI's Andhra Pradesh unit secretary K Ramakrishna said the turmoil Jagan had caused in his party vindicates goes to show the CM has accepted defeat in the 2024 assembly elections.

Political turmoil

This kind of attack on Jagan was unheard of before the elections in Telangana, where the Congress trounced the most powerful leader of the state, K Chandrasekhar Rao of the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS).

The fortnight since then has unnerved YSR Congress cadres. One-time Jagan loyalist MLA Alla Ramakrishna Reddy quit the party as well as the Assembly. Subsequently, two MLAs, Mekapati Chandrasekhar Reddy (Udayagiri) and Undavalli Sridevi, a close confidant of Jagan, joined the TDP.

Earlier, another MLA Balineni Srinivasulu Reddy revolted against the party, saying he was accorded “low priority” by the leadership.

Now, three more MLAs from East Godavari district, Pendem Dorababu (Pithapuram), Chanti Babu (Jaggampet) and PSP Prasad (Prathipadu), have defied the party leadership over its move to make room for newcomers as their performance report from their constituencies was poor. At the time of writing this report, the party was trying to pacify the angry MLAs.

These developments were preceded by a reshuffling of 11 MLAs including three ministers ahead of the 2024 Assembly elections. They were shifted out of their constituencies on the pretext of local anti-incumbency. The decision created an unprecedented situation for Jagan in the party.

“Now, both constituencies – home constituency and new constituency – are likely to be affected. This move is bound to undermine the party’s prospects in 22 constituencies,” a party leader remarked.

Unsure candidates

Explaining how this would harm the party prospects, he said: “Take the case of Vidadala Rajani, Health Minister, who has been shifted out of Chilakaluripet to Guntur West where sitting MLA M Giridhar Rao and MLC K Manohar Naidu are the aspirants. While Rajani's followers are unhappy in Chilakaluripet, Giridhar's group is peeved with the party’s sudden decision to snub his claim. How would this decision help overcome constituency-level anti-incumbency,” he asked.

He added that this panic decision to change the MLAs was the result of BRS' drubbing in Telangana, where KCR fielded 105 sitting MLAs out of 109.

Botsa Satyanarayana, Education Minister, defended the move, stating that changes were made to achieve the target of sweeping the election with 175/175 seats in the 2024 election. “The decision to shift the MLAs to other constituencies has been taken after extensive deliberations with senior leaders and poll strategists,” he said.

Kotamreddy Sridhar Reddy, a YSRCP rebel MLA (Nellore Rural) who joined the TDP some time back, dismissed this as a joke. “Adimulam Suresh, MLA and Municipal minister, was shifted out of Yerragondapalem to Kondepi constituency where YSRCP had never won. The reported reason for the shifting is non-performance. Then how would such an MLA with alleged poor track record win in a new constituency,” he asked.

Asked about the talk of possible of shifting or dropping 50 per cent of YSR Congress MLAs from a strength of 151, he said: “YSRC government is facing severe opposition due to steep rise in the power tariff, massive unemployment, corruption, lack of development including roads and Jagan’s dictatorial attitude. The best way to overcome the anti-incumbency lies in changing the leader, not the MLAs.”

Naidu’s aggression

Confusing the situation further for YSRCP fans, Chandrababu Naidu announced that 40 YSR Congress MLAs were in touch with the TDP. “Though 40 YSRCP MLAs were in touch with us, all are not welcome. We will go by the merits of the candidates,” Naidu said.

Infuriated by Naidu’s comments, YSRCP spokesperson and minister Ambati Ramababu said, “All changes are made with a single target of winning 175 seats of Assembly leaving none to TDP. Can Naidu contest any of the 175 seats alone (without an alliance with Janasena),” he asked.