While YSR Congress president Jaganmohan Reddy calls the Nandyal by-election as a referendum for the ruling party, the Telugu Desam Party, the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh N Chandrababu Naidu is using this moment to talk about Jagan's white collar crimes. at one press meet, Naidu made a shocking remark saying that Jagan’s father and the late chief minister of united Andhra Pradesh, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy may have had a role in the assassination attempt made on him by Maoists at Alipiri, enroute to Tirumala in October 2003.
So it has become a no-holds-barred campaign, with Jagan making outrageous statements like Naidu should be hung and killed for not keeping his promises to the people of Andhra Pradesh. “I don’t see anything wrong if Naidu is shot in public for making false promises to the people," is what he said. This evoked strong protests from the ruling camp. While Naidu might refuse that this is just another election, even he knows that winning this seat will boost the cadre of his party, considering this will be the precursor to the general election in 2019. In political circles, this by-poll is being seen as an indicator of the public mood ahead of the assembly elections.
Jagan is on a high, with coaching from none other than Prashant Kishor, his own political strategist and while the public does think that he is stepping over the line, Jagan is on a roll. Over excited, loud, rude and most definitely using this opportunity to highlight what the ruling party has not done and hoping to win the voters to his side.
Typically the people of Rayalaseema region, from where both Jagan and Naidu come from, get a feeling that no one cares for them. In fact this election drama is probably the only kind of excitement they have, considering they live in a rain shadow region and have severe water issues.
And the kind of high octane campaigning that is happening only helps them release their frustration. Most citizens from this region seem to believe that Naidu and his team is focussing only on the rich coastal regions and not on the dry, poorer Rayalaseema region.
The by-election to Nandyal was necessitated by the sudden death of sitting TDP member Bhuma Nagireddy following a massive heart attack in March this year. Interestingly, he was elected to the seat on YSR Congress Party ticket in the 2014 elections but subsequently switched over to the ruling camp in February last year. His daughter Akhila Priya is currently a minister in the Naidu cabinet. The TDP has fielded one of his close relatives Bhuma Brahmananda Reddy as its candidate. A former TDP minister and a two-time Nandyal MLA Shilpa Mohan Reddy is the YSRCP’s nominee for the constituency. He shifted parties when he was not given a ticket to the Nandyal seat.
The campaign will continue till Monday, with the election slated for August 23.
Meanwhile, gossip has that the Telangana chief minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao asked about the result of the election to one of his religious experts, who in turn said that Naidu might lose. When Naidu was told about it by KCR, Naidu wondered if something could be done about it only to be told that it was a bit late. But only the results on August 25 will show whether Naidu passes with flying colours.
Unfortunately if Jagan does win this election, his campaign against the ruling party can only get more strident.
