Will Jagan Mohan Reddy step into YSR’s shoes?

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.

The 1,470-km-long padayatra that Y S Rajasekhar Reddy undertook in 2003 became a turning point in his political career and propelled him to power in the Assembly elections held a year later in the united Andhra Pradesh. The Congress’ victory was largely attributed to the goodwill that YSR’s walkathon had generated at that time.

His bete noir N Chandrababu Naidu followed a similar strategy in 2012 by undertaking a state-wide padayatra, covering over 2,500 km, and was duly rewarded. Naidu bounced back to power in the 2014 elections, after remaining in the opposition for ten years.

Now, it is the turn of YSR’s son and president of YSR Congress president Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy who has set a new record with the state-wide padayatra, covering a distance of 3,648 km in 341 days.

Starting from his home district of Kadapa in November, 2017, he travelled all the 13 districts, covering 2,516 villages and towns in 134 of the 175 Assembly constituencies, and concluded the walkathon at Ichapuram in Srikakulam district in January this year. The question is whether he can repeat the feat of his father whose political legacy he wants to inherit.

Favourable optics

Drawing huge crowds across the state, Jagan makes it point to remind the gatherings at his election rallies that his party, if voted to power, would usher in “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 has unveiled a manifesto promising a galore of freebies and welfare schemes touching upon virtually every section of the society.

Several opinion polls have given a clear edge to the YSRCP whose USP is its consistent stand on Special Category Status to AP, an emotive issue with the people grappling with the bifurcation blues and the loss of Hyderabad to Telangana following the division of the state.

Campaign narrative

Jagan and his party leaders have been focusing on the failures of the Chandrababu Naidu government in ensuring justice for Andhra despite the Telugu Desam Party being part of the NDA government at the Centre for nearly four years.

“In the name of building a new capital city, Naidu has benefited himself and his cronies and turned it into a real estate business. No signs of capital city taking shape. Corruption, casteism and cronyism have become rampant. No jobs have been created and none of the poll promises have been implemented fully,” Jagan alleges.

The YSRCP’s campaign narrative is centered around mocking at Naidu for his “duplicity, flip flops and U-turns”, be it on the issue of Special Category Status, its alliance with the BJP and the capital city project.

“People are waiting to teach Naidu a fitting lesson for his lies and the politics of opportunism. First, he accepts the special package, stating that it is better than the promised special category status. Then, he changes his mind following our consistent fight, breaks ties with the BJP after nearly four years and starts abusing the BJP and my party together, saying that I am a covert ally of the BJP”, Jagan points out.

His supporters claim that it was Jagan’s unflinching focus on the emotive issue that had forced the TDP to join the chorus of the demand and ultimately pull out of the NDA.

As part of a massive outreach, the opposition party has appointed 60,000 “influencers”, professionals from different walks of life including doctors, advocates, teachers and anganwadi workers, to spread the message of the party. Apart from extensive social media presence and catchy campaign videos, it has deployed nearly 5.50 lakh booth level volunteers.

There has been a steady migration of leaders from the TDP in the run-up to the elections.

YSR’s legacy

Nearly a decade after his death in a helicopter crash in September 2009, 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.

A set of nine promises, described as “Nava Ratnalu”, forms the key talking point for the YSRCP during the electioneering. It includes the promise to provide investment support of ₹50,000 per year to each farmer under “Rythu Bharosa” scheme in four installments of ₹12,500 each, starting with onset of Kharif season in May, free crop insurance, interest-free loans, “Amma Vodi” scheme for women involving payment of ₹15,000 per annum for sending their kids to schools, Rs 50,000 for DWCRA women groups under “YSR Aasara” scheme, Rs75,000 for backward classes (BC), scheduled castes (SC), scheduled tribes (ST), and minority women (over the age of 45 years) under YSR Cheyutha.

Complicity with BJP

The alleged tacit understanding between YSRCP and BJP has been a recurring theme of the TDP’s campaign narrative. During his rallies, Jagan avoids criticising the BJP leadership while focusing his attack on Chandrababu Naidu.

His detractors question his ability to stay independent and work for the interests of the state, given the clutch of corruption cases pending against him in the courts. The TDP leaders allege that Jagan had entered into a secret pact with the BJP leadership that would allow him to get off the hook.

Though there is no pre-poll alliance between the two parties, it is widely believed that the NDA will count on YSRCP’s support if it falls short of numbers.

Interestingly, there has been no forward movement for a few years now on the court cases involving serious corruption charges against Jagan. And, the BJP, which is looking to consolidate in Andhra, has never been critical of YSRCP or its leader.

Jagan’s case

The crux of the charges against Jagan, who was then an MP from Kadapa, was that he had misused the position of his father during 2004-09 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.

Jagan 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.