YS Jagan Miles Ahead Of Chandrababu In Popular Perception

Kommineni Srinivasa Rao

The India Today-Aaj Tak Survey results gave an insight into the public opinion over the upcoming elections in Andhra Pradesh. As per the survey results, 43 per cent of the people of Andhra Pradesh want to elect YSR Congress party Chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy as the next Chief Minister of the State, while only 38 per cent people were inclined towards re-electing current CM Nara Chandrababu Naidu to power. In a disappointment to Jana Sena Chief Pawan Kalyan, only 5 per cent of the public want him to rule the State, according to the survey.

Pawan Kalyan himself is the reason for Jana Sena's dismal show. The roots of Pawan's failure lie in his inability to attract prominent personalities from other parties, lack of consistency in being among the public and a dearth of strong party cadre across the State. If otherwise, Pawan Kalyan would have yielded much better results if he had been more pro-active in his approach.

Let us now examine the reasons behind the strong support to Leader of Opposition in Andhra Pradesh Assembly YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. The YSRCP should have been elected in 2014 itself. YS Jagan made it amply clear during the 2014 election campaign that it would not be possible to implement farm loan waivers. He did not resort to making false promises or setting an impossible agenda. This proves that in politics, credibility and trustworthiness have less bearing. Yet, YS Jagan continues to stick to his word and does not resort to false promises..

However, Chandrababu Naidu, with 40 years of experience in politics, has succeeded only by making false promises like waiver of Rs 89,000 crore farm loans, Rs 14,000 crore DWCRA loans and reservations to the Kapu community. But, these fake promises are coming back to haunt Chandrababu now. In the past four years, YS Jagan constantly pressurized the TDP for the implementation of its poll promises. The YSRCP Chief was successful in proving that the TDP was dependent on unethical practices like deception of MLAs and MPs from other parties. While Chandrababu attracted 23 MLAs from the YSRCP, YS Jagan proved his accountability by making MLC Chakrapani Reddy, who had joined the YSRCP from the TDP, resign from his post.

Everyone knows about Chandrababu's U-turn with respect to the issue of the Special Category Status (SCS). The YSRCP had already announced its 'Navarathnalu,' the nine welfare schemes it promised to implement after coming to power. With Praja Sankalpa Yatra, YS Jagan is gaining immense popularity by engaging with the masses and learning about local issues from Idupulapaya to Ichhapuram. The survey outlines the fact that the public had faith in YS Jagan's words, unlike Chandrababu, who was elected to power based on false promises.

Chandrababu would face opposition from the public for burdening the State with a total debt of Rs 2.5 lakh crore, making Amaravati a real estate hub and travelling in helicopters while claiming that AP is a poor State. The TDP Chief was responsible for the historical tragedy of robbing the people of AP from enjoying their rights to utilize Hyderabad as the joint capital, by shifting the administrative base to Vijayawada following the note for vote case came in to picture. The State government made yet another mistake by not even filing a case on the Krishna Pushkarams stampede, which took away the lives of 29 innocents.

After breaking ties with the BJP and Jana Sena, the TDP is now befriending its arch-rival, the Congress. By striking an alliance with the Congress, Chandrababu was responsible for the loss of TDP's credibility. This clearly made an impact in the survey. Although the Congress and TDP tied up in Telangana, the alliance might not necessarily be made in AP, where Chandrababu is planning to depend on distribution of money in the upcoming elections.

The survey results, however, should not make the YSRCP's cadre over-confident. The YSRCP will be successful in the elections only when they would effectively tackle Chandrababu's tactics and schemes on a regular basis. It is true that YS Jagan's honest promises have been a reason behind YSRCP's loss. But, the honest attitude earned him great respect and popularity.

With people's realization of truth about Chandrababu's promises, YS Jagan gained support from people across the State.

Also Read: BJP Protecting Chandrababu In Note For Vote Case: YSRCP MLA