Elections in Andhra Pradesh (AP) are two years away but the ruling YSR Congress party (YSRCP) and the opposition parties seem to be already fine-tuning their strategies and making necessary course corrections to prepare for the polls.
The mood in the YSRCP has been a mixture of euphoria and disappointment, notably after the appointment of regional coordinators and district presidents and a major overhaul of the Cabinet which caused heartburn for some who underwent a role reversal from being Ministers to MLAs. Those disgruntled leaders were sought to be mollified, lest they switched loyalties at a time when the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the BJP-Jana Sena Party (JSP) were working on a mission mode to dislodge the YSRCP.
With 151 MLAs in the 175-member Legislative Assembly and strong performances in local body elections, the YSRCP is in the driver’s seat, but since nothing is permanent in politics, the party cannot take victory for granted.
The YSRCP leaders are brimming with confidence but they will be committing a costly mistake if they simply brush aside the anti-incumbency factor. The YSRCP president and Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy is wary of the renewed vigour with which TDP and BJP-JSP are attacking the government for taking certain policy decisions, many of which backfired, the ‘three capitals’ fiasco in particular, and for implementing fiscally imprudent welfare schemes that have imperilled the State’s finances.
The financial implications of keeping the Amaravati (capital city) project in limbo, could soon take their toll, as even if the capital is shifted to Visakhapatnam, subject to courts clearing the move, the government would still have to compensate the huge losses incurred by thousands of farmers who gave away their lands under the pooling scheme.
The YSRCP is, meanwhile, hopeful that the plethora of welfare schemes being largely delivered through village and ward secretariats has earned it a lot of goodwill and will help in the general elections. The party’s electoral strategy also includes citing the impact of bifurcation of the erstwhile united State and the COVID-19 pandemic as reasons for the inability to achieve development on the scale that the party promised and the YSRCP also seeks to blame its predecessor TDP government for the failures.
Mr. Reddy is learnt to have prepared a plan to start visiting the districts soon in order to mobilise support for his party which is coming under pressure to deliver. On the other hand, the TDP is trying to take advantage of the failures of the YSRC government and is focusing on a host of issues which it believes will tilt the scales in its favour. But, to cover the lost ground is a formidable task for the opposition party as the YSRCP is still a force to reckon with.
Though the TDP is in a position to successfully regroup again after some years of being down in the dumps, it faces challenges as some of its MLAs have extended tacit support to the YSCRP and this has complicated its task to find viable candidates as elections beckon. Taking the tally of its MLAs from 23 to a number that puts it in the saddle is going to be difficult, if not impossible for the TDP, to say the least.
The BJP and its ally JSP have meanwhile sought to focus on the work done by the Central government and to target the “corrupt governance” of the YSCRP regime. Besides this, the BJP and its State president Somu Veeraraju has been raking up sensitive issues related to alleged attacks on Hindu temples and religious institutions, in what is suggested as a ploy backed by the party’s central high command. It is anybody’s guess whether this would work in a State largely devoid of communal politics, but the BJP is straining every muscle to rake such issues.
It remains to be seen whether the chinks in the YSCRP armour are weak enough for a resurgent opposition to exploit in the next two years. The citizens of the State, meanwhile, are still hoping for the promises made to them during bifurcation to be fulfilled.
(raghavendra.v@thehindu.co.in)
