Why is Jagan so worried & frustrated?

The phrase “the chickens are coming home to roost” is well-known and often attributed to African American, anti-imperialist, revolutionary leader Malcolm X following the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963. This refers, of course, to mean that the wrongs committed by an individual or political entity will likewise have a boomerang effect and come back to punish the wrongdoing party in a similar vein.

When this begins, it indicates that the past baggage is settling scores. It is paying us back. It is one’s’ own ‘Karma’ simply put. AP Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy sounded a bit low when he said that no one was with him. “Even the BJP,” he added in a melancholy filled voice addressing a public meeting in connection with “Jagannanna Vidya Kanuka.” So, he sought the support of people in taking on the TDP-Jana Sena-BJP combine and, perhaps, all others in the next general elections. It is somewhat strange that Jagan is unhappy about the BJP ‘deserting’ him at this crucial juncture. But, was the BJP any valuable ally in the State in the sense of vote bank politics? No way. It does not have that kind of a strength to shore up anyone’s fortunes.

Even if the TDP and Jana Sena combine and join hands with it, the BJP would remain a paper tiger in Andhra Pradesh. The three contested the 2014 Assembly elections together in the State to halt the YSRCP march. The State preferred an experienced leadership to tide over the blues of bifurcation. But come 2018, all the three in the alliance had split and gone their ways. Since then the Opposition had been facing problems in taking on Jagan who was bulldozing it in every sense. His broad social justice-welfare based approach almost decimated the rival groups. Only of late, a breathing space for it had been allowed and the TDP-Jana Sena duo could recover much of the lost ground in every sense.

Going by the anti-Jagan media blitzkrieg and the government’s self-inflicted law and order wounds, the Opposition seems to have gained enough space to put up an honourable fight against Jagan. But, will it be any match to the vote buying capacity of the ruling party? The DBTs delivered are whopping and Jagan has already started warning the voters that these might be scrapped if the TDP comes to power. Be that as it may, why is Jagan sounding so frustrated? Is it because of the fear of something else? Same fear was noticeable in the voice of KCR, too, the other day after another accused in the Delhi liquor scam turned an approver.

The difference between the two is that the probe agencies have only begun knocking on his doors while Jagan is neck-deep in his cases. He is out on bail and his Central equation with the BJP souring is no good sign at this point of time. Avinash Reddy’s issue vis-a-vis Y S Viveka murder case is also an Achilles heel of Jagan. Was he more worried about the outcome in the ongoing cases or the impact of Amit Shah hauling his governance over the coals at a recent meeting in Visakhapatnam? Shah was just showing the mirror to Jagan. Just as the latter is no one’s friend, the former too is not. Once the need is met, the value is lost.