Jaganmohan Reddy Repeats Father's Feat as YSRCP Ousts Chandrababu Naidu in Andhra Pradesh

In 2004, Congress leader YS Rajasekhara Reddy undertook a padayatra and came to power in the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh ousting then Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader N Chandrababu Naidu. Almost 15 years later, his son Jaganmohan Reddy repeated the feat by undertaking a similar padayatra and the casualty remains the same, Chandrababu Naidu. Jaganmohan Reddy's YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) swept the 2019 Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh.

Of the 175 seats in Andhra Pradesh Assembly, YSRCP is leading in 148 seats wresting power from Chandrababu Naidu. The TDP managed to maintain its lead on 26 seats, while Pawan Kalyan's Jana Sena was ahead in just one seat. Jagan, as the YSRCP chief is popularly known, quit the Congress after his father's death in a helicopter crash in 2009 and founded his own party. In 2014, YSRCP bagged 67 out of the 175 Assembly seats but couldn't stop Naidu from coming back to power. Pawan Kalyan Loses From Both Gajuwaka and Bhimavaram Constituencies in Andhra Pradesh.

Undeterred Jagan continued his efforts to gain a foothold. Heavily banking on his late father's legacy but lacking YSR's charisma, Jagan had a daunting task. He decided to follow the footsteps of his father and undertook a padayatra which concluded in January this year. His foot-march covered 3,648 km, claimed to be the longest walkathon undertaken by any politician in India.

During his 14-month-long walkathon, Jagan, who is known for mingling with people and developing an instant rapport with them, heard their problems in every village he visited and promised what YSRCP will do if voted to power. He infused enthusiasm among the of YSRCP cadres. On the other hand, Chandrababu Naidu started losing his ground.

Naidu, who returned to NDA ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha election to teach the Congress a lesson for dividing Andhra Pradesh, saw a threat to himself when Prime Minister Narendra Modi started leaning towards Jagan. He pulled out of the NDA, accusing PM Modi of betraying people of Andhra Pradesh by going back on the promise to accord it special category status.

With the Congress drawing a blank in 2014 Lok Sabha and assembly elections in truncated Andhra Pradesh, it no longer remained a major force in the state's politics while Jagan's YSRCP continued to emerge as his main rival. Naidu lost the backing of BJP and actor-politician Pawan Kalyan and the changed political scenario helped the YSRCP to come to power.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 23, 2019 06:52 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).