Early polls in AP?

Vijayawada: Will Andhra Pradesh go in for early polls? Is the YSRCP government contemplating to dissolve the Assembly by August? This is the speculation that is trending in the political circles in the state.

Though YSRCP leaders are denying it as an Opposition mind game, political circles assert that the YSRCP government will go in for early polls along with the five states -- Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram – sometime later this year.

It may be mentioned here that Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy is said to have hinted at this possibility during the recent Cabinet meeting after the official agenda was over. But no minister is willing to make any comment on it.

The Opposition parties, however, claim that the Chief Minister, who has been saying ‘why not 175 seats’, wants to go in for early polls as he does not want to give any time to them to either come together or mobilise necessary resources for the elections. It is also being said that the I-PAC team had also recommended that the YSRCP would come back to power if it opts in for early polls.

The assessment of the ruling party seems to be that though the TDP and Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena had started poll campaign, still there is no clarity on any kind of alliance between them. The confusion on whether Pawan would go with the BJP or TDP is also not yet decided.

YSRCP leaders say that the fact that Pawan Kalyan has been claiming that his party would form the government this time shows that there is no understanding between the TDP and Jana Sena and hence early elections will catch them off guard. Neither Jana Sena nor the TDP have either finalised the candidates or manifesto. The TDP had said that they would announce manifesto by Dasara.

Another reason political circles quote is because the state finances are not so rosy the government may find it difficult to get more loans and if polls are held as per schedule it could lead to greater anti-incumbency factor.

In the backdrop of this, they feel that Jagan would convene an emergency Cabinet meeting either towards end of July or early August and pass a resolution to dissolve the Assembly.