Change apparent with YSRCP on jittery course

It is going to be a litmus test for the voters of Andhra Pradesh. The writing on the wall is clear. Strong anti-incumbency wave is there in the state. The ruling YSRCP which came up with the slogan “Why not 175” seems to be feeling jittery now as people are saying why 175. The survey reports too are not giving encouraging reports. In Telangana the anger was more against the MLAs while the graph of KCR was quite high, but in Andhra Pradesh, people are unhappy with both the Chief Minister and the MLAs.

The ruling party for past sometime has been making serious exercise to change the candidates and the party chief Y S Jaganmohan Reddy has been hinting that many could be changed if they do not pull up their socks. But still there has not been significant change in the performance of the legislators. Added to that the government showing its nervousness, arrested TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu hoping that this would disintegrate the party and TDP would be decimated. But the calculation seems to have misfired. The TDP got more sympathy and the decision of Pawan Kalyan to have alliance with TDP had changed the poll scenario.

But then there is now a new twist in the state politics. The Congress party which had disappeared from the political arena for past ten years is now trying to revive its political fortunes. The victory of the party in Karnataka and Telangana has given some oxygen to their hopes. But the problem in Andhra Pradesh is they do not have a fiery leader. In Telangana, the TPCC president A Revanth Reddy struggled for over six months and took on the ruling BRS party. But that kind of leader is not there in Andhra and hence the Congress now wants to import Y S Sharmila who is also the sister of AP Chief Minister and take up campaign targeting Jagan.

Sharmila was the one who took padayatra and campaign on an equal scale like her brother and fifty percent of the credit for Jagan’s victory should be attributed to her hard work. But then she migrated to Telangana, dabbled in state politics for short period and finally decided not to contest. The Congress now wants to make her their star campaigner and perhaps make her the APCC chief. They apparently feel that it would help in attracting all disgruntled elements of YSRCP to join them as Sharmila would claim that the state Congress was her father YSR’s party.

Another issue that is said to bothering the MPs and MLAs is that the YSRCP is learnt to have told them to deposit Rs 100 to Rs 150 crore per candidate and the target should be Chandrababu Naidu during the campaign. This is making some of them unhappy and hence they are looking towards other parties.

Now the million-dollar question is if the MLAs who do not get tickets in YSRCP join Congress and contest, can they win? The YSRCP is side-lining over 40 MLAs and some MPs because of their poor performance and anger against them among the voters. Many from Rayalaseema and south coastal region may choose to switch loyalties to Congress.

Will voters accept them in 2024 elections if they join Congress? Certainly not. The mood there appears to be that they want a change in government and they do not look at Congress as the alternative at least during this election. Another issue that needs to be seen is whose votes will Congress cut into. TDP-Jana Sena combine or YSRCP?