Hyderabad: Even as officials were making arrangements for YS Jaganmohan Reddy’s swearing in as the next Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh on May 30 at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in Vijayawada, the mood in Telugu Desam camp was sombre as shocked leaders were trying to comprehend what hit them.
While jubilant crowd of party leaders and workers continue to throng Jagan’s residence in Tadepalli and celebrations continue, there was total silence outside outgoing Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s residence.
Naidu who submitted his resignation to the governor Thursday evening confined himself to extend greetings to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Jagan for their emphatic victories. “I respect the people’s mandate and hope the new government will live up to their expectations and serve them with honesty”, he said refusing to go to into the reasons for his debacle now.
Jagan on the other hand said that he will strive to become a “model Chief Minister” by giving good governance to the state. “This mandate has come with tremendous responsibility”, he told a press conference last evening. He reiterated that he will fulfil all the promises made to the people and will always stand with the people.
However on the crucial issue of securing Special Category Status for the Andhra Pradesh he admitted that it will be difficult task. “With this kind of mandate at Delhi (overwhelming majority to BJP led NDA) it will be difficult. But we will continue our fight”, he said adding that he will soon meet Prime Minister Modi.
By leading 9 year old YSRCP to power, Jagan might have fulfilled his dream of becoming the Chief Minister but the path ahead will not be easy for him given the not-so-healthy financial position of the state and the long list of welfare schemes he promised for all sections of society. While expectations were high as was reflected in 50 per cent of the electorate supporting him,
One thing appears sure that unlike his predecessor Jagan would not face any pinpricks from Modi government at the Centre and the Chief Minister of neighbouring Telangana K Chandrasekhar Rao. He enjoyed a very warm rapport with KCR and the latter was likely to attend Jagan’s swearing-in ceremony on May 30.
As Jagan will need every possible largesse from the Centre including for the much-awaited completion of construction of new capital Amaravati as well as the Polavaram project, he is likely to adopt a conciliatory approach towards Modi government and avoid any pitfall on the political front. Given its total elimination from AP, BJP was also not in a position to mount any immediate challenge to him.
Precarious financial situation of the state, the increasing fiscal deficit coupled with the pressure to fulfil the promises will be a big challenge before the new government. One of the key promises of Jagan was phase-wise imposition of prohibition in the state, while excise tax was one of the major sources of revenue for the state. His Navaratnalu (nine jewels) or the nine major promises also include financial assistance of Rs50,000 (Dh2,640) to farmers, free medical treatment where the cost was more than Rs1,000, interest-free loan to self-help groups, 2.5 million houses for the poor and Rs2,000 per month pension to the senior citizens and Rs3,000 per month dole to the unemployed youth.
A much senior and experienced Naidu will be keenly watching from the opposition benches and wait for his chance to pounce on any failure.
As far as the factors behind the massive electoral victory were concerned, YSRCP leaders say that people had more faith in Jagan than Naidu in leading the state out of the current morass on all fronts. “Naidu simply lacked the credibility to convince people to give him another term while Jaganmohan Reddy’s plea for one chance had a profound impact on the people”, said senior party leader S.V. Subba Reddy.
While Naidu government had given doles to many sections including the direct transfer of cash to women’s self-help groups, the list of unfulfilled promises was longer and especially his failure in providing one job to every family stood out.
Jaganmohan Reddy’s strategy, drawn with the help of renowned political consultant Prashant Kishore, fully exploited the weaknesses of Naidu drawing the message of change effectively through every possible media. While Jagan led from the front, his sister Sharmila was also a big help in the gruelling campaign across Andhra Pradesh.
