In the choppy waters of Andhra Pradesh politics, YS Jaganmohan Reddy’s resignation is but a small wave. It may be too insignificant for the larger political situation at this point, but probably timely in some ways for his party.
Till the Congress Working Committee (CWC) announced its decision last month, political parties could hem and haw on the Telangana issue. But, once the announcement came, they have suddenly been cornered and forced to spell out their stance on united Andhra Pradesh.
The position of the YSR Congress has been no different. The party did make some feeble noises at its Idupulapaya plenary about ‘respecting Telangana people’s sentiments’ but never went beyond that.
The Panchayat polls were probably what gave the party a clear sight of things ahead. It put up a rather lackluster show in Telangana, mostly falling behind the Congress, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS).
However, it could consolidate its position in the coastal areas, and in Chittoor in Rayalaseema, the home district of both Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy and TDP President Chandrababu Naidu, and the constituency of filmstar-turned union minister Chiranjeevi.
The first indication of which way Jagan was finally going to lean came a couple of weeks ago when Konda Surekha, a staunch YSR loyalist and the party’s best known face in the Telangana region, quit amidst a lot of emotions. Surekha claimed that YS Vijayamma, YSR Congress Party’s (YSRCP) honorary president, did not make even a token effort to stop her from quitting.
Surekha’s exit is no doubt the strongest hint of the party’s lack of support in the Telangana region.
With all the parties under pressure from their cadre to take a clear stand and quitting being the first expectation, the resignations of YS Jaganmohan Reddy and his mother from their MP and MLA posts seemed unavoidable.
What happens next is going to be interesting. YSRCP’s united Andhra position has electoral implications for the TDP as well as the Congress party. Chandrababu Naidu may not be very happy with the development as YSRCP will now be in a clear position to elbow its way into the domains that the TDP is confident of winning, including Chittoor district, where Jagan’s party has already started the fire in the Panchayat polls.
The Congress state-in-charge Digvijay Singh had a few days ago remarked that ‘Jagan has the Congress DNA’, a possible hint that Jagan’s victories will ultimately serve to strengthen the Congress party with a few minor alterations in positions. The party may very well look to draw YSRCP into its fold, as that may be its only shot at winning in the ‘Seemandhra’ region, where the Telangana decision has left the Congressmen beleaguered.
In any case, with 16 of its MLAs already submitting their resignations over the Telangana issue, Jagan and Vijayamma only did what was logical for the party’s journey towards the polls. And reconfirmed that now all parties in the State have only one consideration for any move – the 2014 polls.
