Is Jagan in a mood for early elections?

Vijayawada: A close scrutiny of AP politics now-a-days shows us a deliberate attempt to orchestrate a certain political heat into the system aimed at some long-term gains by the main players of the day.

For everyone with a stake in it, pulling a fast one on the other has become an imperative now-a-days. No doubt, the YSRCP is sitting comfortably in power with a huge majority. But, its leader and the Chief Minister, Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, is still thirsty and craves to shut out the opposition fully in the next elections.

There is nothing wrong with day-dreaming and no one needs to blame him for it. After all, all the political parties in power have been yearning to create an 'Opposition-mukt' atmosphere as if democracy, like a sheath, can't accommodate two swords. If the BJP wants a Congress-mukt Bharat, the Congress seeks to have a 'Hindutva-lupt' secular India.

The TRS, which is in the process of a makeover into a national player, has deliberately lured as many MLAs from the Opposition into its fold as possible to weaken the Opposition. Given the political culture of the day, YSRCP, too, has every right to dream big. However, the party seems to be getting a bit pragmatic with the Chief Minister realising that at least 27 MLAs are not worthy to re-contest in the next elections. He is also attempting to block the entry of younger family members in place of the existing leaders. This, of course, could lead to such aspirants exploring their chances with others. Jagan Mohan Reddy is shrewd enough to realise the damage such potential players could inflict on his 'Operation 175'. Again, he can't afford to turn a blind eye to the undercurrents of a Chiranjeevi-Pawan Kalyan tango in the company of the BJP too. So, is he exploring the option of early elections as his counterpart did in Telangana the last time? This would also not give enough room for the plans of the Megastar family to fall in place.

Could he be then aiming to drum up a new dominant discourse to divert the attention of the people and the Opposition in the guise of the 'Three Capitals' demand? Senior Ministers like Dharmana Prasada Rao and Botsa Satyanrayana and MLAs like Karanam Dharmasri and Avanti Srinivas would not raise such a demand on their own and without a pointsman from the CMO hinting at it.

While Dharmana had gone ahead to say that he would not mind quitting as MLA for pressing the Visakhapatnam case as the administrative capital, Dharmasri has sent his resignation letter to the Joint Action Committee formed to fight for the same.

They are also trying to pre-empt the move of the Amaravati farmers who are on a yatra to voice their grievance in favour of Amaravati as the capital. It is a good gambit, to pitch Capital vs Capital game to deflate the Amaravati farmers' demand as the YSRCP sees it as a TDP ploy to trouble it.

Despite its doles and welfare measures, the ruling YSRCP has been facing flak on several counts. Its failure to complete Polavaram project even if it is for extraneous reasons is a stumbling block for Jagan as he has been insisting that he would seek re-election only after fulfilling all major promises. His efforts to wean away the public eye from the issue flagging TDP failures in completing it also have failed miserably.

It is the game of a crouching tiger – one step backward for a two-steps gain. Leaders like Dharmana and Dharmasri are only raising the political temperatures to secure the interests of the YSRCP further. Such a threat and its execution sooner would arm the YSRCP with a potent public mood in its favour in future sweeping aside all its failures including Polavaram.

Perhaps, there could be some more who follow suit on similar grounds now to force early elections in AP!