‘Psycho, backstabber’: Jagan-Naidu Andhra poll battle gets personal
On August 2, TDP supremo and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu gave a call: ‘Why not Pulivendula?’ It meant why shouldn’t the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) wrest Pulivendula constituency, the pocket borough of Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy’s family, in the 2024 Assembly elections.
Addressing a well-attended public meeting in Pulivendula in Kadapa district, Naidu called Jagan a “psycho” to the applause of the public. Referring to the murder of Jagan’s uncle YS Vivekananda Reddy in March 2018 in the latter’s own house in Pulivendula, Naidu asked the people if they knew who the murderer was. The crowd roared: “Yes!”
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Naidu talked about how the killer of Vivekananda Reddy was roaming before the very eyes of the chief minister. He was also sympathetic to Jagan’s sister YS Sharmila, stating that she was denied a share in the family property by Jagan.
Naidu described Jagan’s niece and Vivekananda Reddy’s daughter Dr Suneetha as “tigress” for waging a fight for justice in the murder case. Amid cheering, Naidu pronounced that a revolt had begun in Pulivendula, which has been under the tight control of the YS family since 1978.
Naidu vs Jagan
Naidu’s decision to address the public meeting as part of his “Visit projects yatra” in a town where rivals fear to enter and use provocative language is interpreted by the TDP cadre as the beginning of the fall of Jagan’s stock in Pulivendula.
An opposition leader challenging the chief minister in the latter’s constituency is unprecedented in Andhra politics. In the past, the political campaign did take place in the chief minister or opposition leaders’ constituencies but it seldom stooped to the level of personal vendetta.
Naidu’s “Why Not Pulivendula?” campaign is a retaliation to Jagan’s “Why not 175?” call.
The neighboring Chittoor district’s Kuppam constituency, which Naidu represents, is a politically disturbed area. Jagan has unleashed a virulent campaign against Naidu which has greatly enthused the YSRCP cadre.
Also read: Jagan’s Mission 175 leaves Chandrababu struggling to save Kuppam turf
Jagan has vowed not only to defeat Naidu but also to send him to jail in what is known as the Amaravati insider trading case. As part of the same, he gave a call “Why not 175?” for the 2024 election.
The message is that when he won 151 seats out of 175 in the Assembly in 2019, winning all 175 constituencies would not be impossible if the Kuppam constituency was wrested from Naidu.
Make or break situation
Naidu has been representing Kuppam since 1989 without a break. Jagan’s plank in Kuppam is a highly personalized attack. He called Naidu a “backstabber” and “cheat”.
“Can a person who cheated his father-in-law and own family members do anything good to the state?” thundered Jagan while the crowds responded with wild whistling and sloganeering.
Jagan appointed a senior minister and Naidu’s college-days’ rival P Ramachandra Reddy as in-charge of Kuppam. The police started denying permission for Naidu’s road shows. Clashes between TDP and YSRC groups have become the order of the day. Now, Kuppam is the most disturbed constituency in Andhra Pradesh.
Also read: Is Chandrababu Naidu losing ground in home turf Kuppam?
Amid the trouble, Jagan’s YSR Congress swept the local municipality and panchayat polls. This is considered by the YSR Congress cadre as a sign of Naidu’s fall in Kuppam.
These days decent political speech has become a rarity in Andhra politics. Speeches of all leaders are marred with filthy language, references to marriages and divorces, wives, sisters and daughters, family disputes, abuses and personal attacks. The leader’s mood is carried forward by ministers, senior leaders and spokespersons of the parties.
Saner past
Though bitter rivalry did exist in the past as well, chief ministers and leaders of the opposition never chose to go to each other’s constituencies only to challenge the other. NTR’s hatred for Congress was well known. He never visited constituencies of former Congress chief ministers with a design to provoke them.
Prof E Venkateshu of the political science department at the Hyderabad Central University says that using cuss words against political opponents has its own function, though in a limited way.
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“Jagan and Naidu know pretty well that using of swear words and hurling personal abuses will reinforce the effectiveness of their message. This type of strategy against the rival is mostly aimed at energizing their cadre and demoralizing the cadre of the rival party. See the cheers and slogans their speeches generate. It is a strategy that politicians employ when their rival is too strong. By loudly talking about the defeat of Jagan in his home constituency Pulivenudla, Naidu thinks he can demoralize the YSRC cadre and boost the morale of his workers. Similarly, Jagan wants to have a similar effect on the TDP cadre by his aggressive campaign,” Prof Venkateshu told The Federal.
According to political commentator Mannem Koteswar Rao, Naidu and Jagan are playing mind games.
Also read: Andhra: Is BJP dropping Jagan for Naidu? What Amit Shah’s tirade suggests
“Jagan’s campaign in Kuppam and Naidu’s campaign in Pulivendula mark the hollowness of their politics. They have nothing new to offer and defeat the rival party with innovative politics and policies. So, when the future looks uncertain, politicians use threatening language to encourage their workers,” Rao said.
The ‘Why Not’ campaigns of Naidu and Jagan are not without a message, says veteran journalist Chalasani Narendra.
“TDP and YSRC are leader-centric regional parties. If the leader loses the election it would result in chaos and confusion. Naidu and Jagan by orchestrating a campaign are trying to intimidate and demoralize the cadre of another party by repeatedly telling how their leader is set to lose the election,” Narendra added.
