Jagan’s political odyssey: Destination is CM’s chair, distance covered 3,648 km

Padayatra and political power have a strange connection in the personality-driven politics of Andhra Pradesh.

The recent history bears this out. Whoever undertook a walkathon, criss-crossing the state in a massive public outreach, had walked his way to power and occupied the Chief Minister’s seat.

In 2003, ahead of the Assembly polls, the charismatic Congress leader YS Rajasekhara Reddy went on a state-wide padayatra in the undivided Andhra Pradesh to highlight the alleged neglect of the rural sector by the then Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.

The 1,470 km long walkathon by YSR became a turning point in his political career and propelled him to power in the Assembly elections held a year later.

Now, nearly 15 years later, his son YS Jagan Mohan Reddy stepped into his father’s shoes, undertook a record-breaking 3,648 km long padayatra, spread over 341 days, and walked his way to power. Incidentally, like his father, he has unseated Chandrababu Naidu from power using the mass outreach as an effective political tool.

Landslide victory

Nearly nine years after quitting the Congress and floating his own party to carry forward the ideals of his father, Jagan scripted a landslide victory, bagging 151 seats in the 175-member Legislative Assembly and 22 out of 25 Lok Sabha seats. Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP) finished a distant second with 23 Assembly and three Lok Sabha seats.

Actor-turned-politician Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena Party (JSP), which made its electoral debut, bagged one Assembly seat. And, the Congress and the BJP drew a blank in the state.

Rebel with a personal cause

On September 3, 2009, when news channels constantly beamed the images of a grieving young man, receiving the mourners with folded hands on the day the charred body of YSR arrived in Hyderabad, not many outside Andhra Pradesh knew who he was.

However, within hours, it became clear that he was a man in a hurry; barely 36, restless, rebellious and unapologetic about his ambition to take over the mantle from his father.

Just 100 days into his role as MP from Kadapa, the family stronghold once represented by his father for four terms, Jagan made it known to the Congress high command that he was a prince awaiting coronation.

It was widely known in political circles that YSR, a charismatic mass leader who steered the Congress to victory for a second successive term in 2009 and delivered 33 MPs to the UPA’s kitty from united AP, wanted to groom his son as his political heir. In fact, Kadapa seat was vacated by YSR’s younger brother YS Vivekananda Reddy to pave way for his nephew’s political entry from the home turf in the 2009 elections.

But, what pitchforked Jagan into the national limelight was the brazenness of his pitch to inherit his father’s legacy.

Enfant Terrible

Even before the body of YSR, killed in a helicopter crash in Nallamala forest area, could reach the state capital, a swift behind-the-scene operation was set in motion by Jagan’s loyalists to enlist support for him. For someone nurtured in a feudal political culture of the faction-ridden Rayalaseema region, where loyalties and rivalries run through generations, the inheritance of political power is seen as a matter of legitimate right.

Though the senior most member in the YSR cabinet, K Rosaiah, was sworn as the chief minister, no one was left in doubt that the arrangement was not meant to last long. In the midst of the funeral arrangements, a letter was drafted in the name of the cabinet, without any signatures, urging the then Congress President Sonia Gandhi to make Jagan the next Chief Minister to “fulfil YSR’s ideals”.

The signatures of 122 out of the total 156 party MLAs were taken in his support. Going into an overdrive, his supporters drew parallel with the anointment of Rajiv Gandhi soon after the assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984 and sought to pitch for Jagan’s case on similar grounds.

Even after Sonia Gandhi told him to cooperate with Rosaiah, the young MP remained defiant and irrepressible. His lack of political and administrative experience, his questionable business dealings, mercurial temperament and the inability to carry along all the groups went against him. That he was set on a collision course with the high command was clear when he defied its directive not to take up his proposed “Odarpu Yatra” (Consolation Tour). Though it was ostensibly meant to meet families of those who died of shock or committed suicide following YSR’s death, its political overtones did not go unnoticed.

Ironically, his swift moves to inherit political legacy of his father caused ripples in a party known to promote dynastic politics.

Meteoric Rise

From a small-time realtor who used to occasionally help his father during the poll campaigns to a high-profile industrialist with interests in power, infrastructure, cement and media sectors, Jagan’s rise has been phenomenal.

So was his brush with controversies.

The growth of his business empire was only matched by brazenness of his political ambitions. During YSR’s tenure as Chief Minister between 2004 and 2009, Jagan was a businessman on a roll, receiving a generous patronage from his doting father.

However, the alleged questionable business deals caught up with him only after he quit the Congress and launched YSR Congress Party in March 2011.

The meteoric growth of Jagan’s business empire since Congress came to power in 2004 raised many eyebrows. The opposition parties had raised allegations of money laundering and FERA violations by companies owned by him.

He also has interests in power, uranium and bauxite mining, cement plants and SEZs. There are also real estate investments and mining interests in Karnataka where he is believed to have business links with the controversial “Reddy brothers” of Bellary.

Jagan’s media ventures—a Telugu daily “Sakshi” and a news channel by the same name, have also triggered controversy with the Telugu Desam Party chief N Chandrababu Naidu alleging that the ill-gotten wealth of YSR had gone into these media ventures.

The media group played a key role in whipping up an emotional campaign to anoint Jagan as YSR’s political successor. It played up the reports of “shock deaths and suicides” in the aftermath of YSR’s death.

The Jagan camp claimed that over 460 people died of either shock or committed suicide. However, there were allegations that these reports were “fake”. “They were part of a brand building exercise,” says writer and professor of political science at Osmania University Kancha Illaiah.

Connect with masses

Clad in a formal striped shirt and trousers with well-groomed hair, Jagan is not a typical politician. He can be curt and caring at the same time. This management graduate from Osmania University does not mince his words while airing his views even on sensitive issues and does not bother about political correctness.

Fit and smartly dressed, Jagan has a penchant for branded shirts and good things in life. Brash and irreverent, he, however, commands huge following among the youth and his loyalists vouch for his commitment to keep up his word.

“People see YSR in him. He alone can carry forward YSR’s legacy and implement the welfare programmes enunciated by his father,” says NTR’s widow N Lakshmi Parvathi who is now supporting the YSRCP.

Jagan has a unique style of public outreach; going into the crowds, cupping everyone’s chin, young and old, in a commiserative gesture, holding and cuddling the babies and taking selfies with the youth.

Whether it is election rallies or the record-setting 3,640 km long padayatra across Andhra, the YSRCP leader has been drawing huge crowds, reminiscent of the public response to NTR’s meetings in the early 1980s.

In many ways, Jagan has striking similarities with his more illustrious father, be it his aggressive streak, outspokenness, nurturing a strong coterie around him and an ability to strike instant emotional chord with masses.

Like YSR, who had earned the sobriquet “perpetual dissident” for opposing successive Congress Chief Ministers in the past, Jagan had a long friction with the Congress before parting ways.

The irreverence has its roots in the political culture of Rayalaseema region. It is notorious for faction violence and revenge killings and country-made bombs are routinely used in the attacks.

Corruption case

The crux of the charges against Jagan was that he had misused the position of his father to attract investments into his business ventures in return for doling out favours such as land allotments, irrigation contracts and mining leases. The CBI had disclosed that he took Rs 1,172 crore from various investors as bribe and in turn helped them get favours from the state government.

However, Jagan has denied the quid pro quo charges and described the case as witch-hunting and a vindictive exercise because he had quit the Congress in 2011 and floated his own party to carry forward the ideals of his charismatic father.

He was arrested and sent to Chanchalguda central jail in Hyderabad on May 27, 2012. After 16 months in jail, he was granted bail on September 23, 2013.

Rajanna Rajyam

During the election rallies, Jagan sought to strike emotional chord with the people, promising to bring back “Rajanna Rajyam”, a reference to welfare schemes enunciated by YSR during his tenure as Chief Minister from 2004 to 2009.

In tune with his political positioning as a pro-poor politician wedded to the cause of equality and social justice, he had unveiled a manifesto promising a galore of freebies and welfare schemes touching upon virtually every section of the society.

Nearly a decade after his death, YSR’s legacy continues to find resonance with the voters of Andhra. He is remembered for a string of welfare schemes introduced by his government including “Arogyasri”, a health insurance scheme for the poor, free power for farmers and fee reimbursement for students belonging to weaker sections. odyssey: