With the entire country in the grip of a saffron wave, Andhra Pradesh witnessed a legitimate Christian Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy, leader of the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP), swearing-in as the new Chief Minister. The young lad made a chunk of promises as any popular candidate, but was it just his youthful charm that dethroned the very experienced N. Chandrababu Naidu, a three-term chief minister and president of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP)? Here’s an in-depth analysis on what went down south that the masses shifted their focus entirely.
Naidu’s defeat does not mean that a democracy is tired of its senior leaders. It only means that the issues need to be well thought of, in terms of a larger interest. Jagan’s entry after his father and former Chief Minister, Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, can be a perfect example of what it takes to use the nepotism card. The strategy of floating to a new party, fighting the ruling one, and coming out glorious is a result of on ground work, courtesy his padayatra.
Jaganmohan Reddy | Photo by AFP
Going back to 2014, it was clearly visible that Naidu was only 1.6% ahead of Jagan, and his winning streak was a result of an alliance with BJP and Jana Sena Party. If it wasn’t for this, Naidu would have lost back then itself. However, in a sudden change of events, Naidu detached himself from BJP over the issue of Special Category Status, when Jagan used it as his USP. But it’s not like the people punished him over a singular yet sentimental matter. According to Livemint, Political analyst Palwai Raghavendra Reddy said that Naidu was voted to power based on a lot of promises he made in 2014, but failed to fulfil many as years went by. “If you suddenly create new schemes without fulfilling those, it won’t work. The TDP was really arrogant. Throughout its five years, there were a lot of irregularities," Reddy said. An article in Firstpost also mentions Parakala Prabhakar, former media advisor to Naidu and newly-inducted Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's husband, stating, "There was large-scale non-delivery of schemes by Naidu's government, which remained on paper."
Losing a long term grip can be fatal. However, a not so impressive silver lining has Naidu’s son Nara Lokesh who can be of good use to TDP if they wish to return in the next five years. Naidu probably needs to understand politics from scratch and not just go by the wavers of public opinion. With Jagan hailing Modi and NDA, one can see another alliance in the coming years, kind of an opportunist move. But if Jagan’s administration falls weak compared to Naidu, because all he has is his father’s reputation as a leverage, Naidu can hope for his return.
