YSR Congress chief Yeduguri Sandinti Jaganmohan Reddy was sworn-in on May 30, 2019 as the second Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh post its bifurcation.
The YSR Congress bagged 151 of the 175 seats in the state Assembly in 2019, decimating the TDP headed by N Chandrababu Naidu, who became the first chief minister of the state after it was bifurcated to carve out Telangana five years ago.
YSRC won 22 of the 25 Lok Sabha seats. The win must have also been sweet for another reason. It also signified the continuous free fall in Andhra Pradesh of the Congress (down to 1.29% vote share from 40.72% in 2009) — the party that cast aside Jagan, setting him off on his solitary path.
In its internal calculations, the YSRCP had thought it would get 100-110 seats out of 175 in the recent Assembly polls. With 2014 in mind, when it had expected to win but was bested by Naidu, it also kept expectations low. The final tally of 151 constituencies, plus 22 of the 25 Lok Sabha seats, surprised even them, admits a senior YSRCP MLA. “We did not anticipate such huge silent support for Jagan.”
Exactly a decade ago, then a businessman in his prime 30s, Jagan was based in Bengaluru, running real estate firms and power projects. One day, “out of the blue”, according to him, his father and Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy asked him to contest the May 2009 Lok Sabha elections from the family pocketborough of Kadapa. Jagan had no exposure to politics, not even in his father’s campaign.
On September 2, 2009, three months after being re-elected to power, YSR died in a chopper crash. “The initial shock gave a wave to a chorus from YSR supporters and Congress loyalists to make Jagan the CM. But the pressure exerted on this even before YSR’s funeral upset (then Congress president) Sonia Gandhi, who refused to say anything,” says long-time friend Bhuma Karunakar Reddy.
In a state where the ruling party is writing its electoral case in the language of rights, growth, and institutional delivery, arriving with a borrowed welfare model and an unshakeable fan base is a beginning
Andhra Police are considering charging Jagan after a YSR Congress Party supporter was allegedly run over by his convoy. While police say the victim ‘was not cared for’, Jagan has accused CM Chandrababu Naidu of ‘degrading the standards of politics’
“Jagananna 2.0 will be different, stronger,” he said at a meeting with key party leaders and YSRCP corporators of the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation at his residence in Guntur district’s Tadepalli.
While several YSRCP leaders claimed there was “no dearth of leaders” to take Reddy’s place, others say the party will miss his “unparalleled political and financial mind”
The Rajya Sabha MP’s announcement comes over a month after Andhra CID issued lookout circulars against him and two others; in parting remarks, Reddy says “no pressure, or coercion or undue influence on me”
NIA team reaches Malda to investigate gherao of judicial officers engaged in SIR
Cities33 min ago
NIA officials, led by DIG, arrived in Malda to investigate the harassment of seven judicial officers. They were accompanied by 60 Army jawans and NIA IG Sonia Singh also landed in Kolkata. The incident occurred when judicial officers were held hostage by protesting residents. The SC transferred the probe to NIA and the team visited the BDO office and Mothabari police station for evidence.
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