Jagan’s electoral fortunes plummet to unexpected depths

Vijayawada: From a brutal majority to a virtual battle for survival, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s electoral fortunes seem to have plummeted to unexpected depths within a span of five years, during which the outgoing Chief Minister launched a slew of populist measures.

Having floated his YSRCP in 2011 following the death of his father and charismatic late Chief Minister of the undivided Andhra Pradesh Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, Jagan Mohan Reddy had to wait for another eight years before getting into the ruling saddle.

Born on December 21, 1972 at Jammalamadugu in Kadapa district, Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy first entered electoral politics in 2009 to contest for the Kadapa Lok Sabha seat from the Congress party. He emerged victorious under the leadership of his father Rajasekhara Reddy but that joy was short-lived.

In an unfortunate turn of events, Rajasekhara Reddy succumbed in a helicopter accident on September 2, 2009, which dumped his son into the abyss of political vagaries. Aiming to cash in on the legacy of his father through padayatras (marathon political walkathons), which were being hindered by the Congress high command, led Jagan Mohan Reddy to cut ties with the national party to form his own Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) on March 12, 2011. However, the political vagaries were so intense that they led to his arrest for 16 long months on corruption charges.

On being released from the Chanchalguda prison on September 24, 2013, Jagan Mohan Reddy straightaway dived into electoral politics but failed to capture power narrowly in the 2014 polls, under the bleak shadow cast by the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.

TDP in alliance with BJP and outside support from Jana Sena emerged victorious, compelling the YSRCP chief to slog it out for another five years to taste victory in 2019 polls, which was a landslide, enabling him to bag 151 Assembly and 22 Lok Sabha seats.

Through his hundreds of kilometres of padayatras across the length and breadth of the southern state over the years leading up to 2019 polls, Jagan Mohan Reddy had struck a chord with the masses. Following five years of welfare-centric governance, Jagan Mohan Reddy again fought against the NDA alliance of TDP, BJP and Jana Sena in the 2024 polls.

Besides political opponents, he also had to deal with the opposition and adverse campaigning which emanated from his family members such as Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president and sister Y S Sharmila and cousin Suneetha Narreddy.

In this backdrop, Jagan Mohan Reddy could not manage another win for his party in the hustings.