As poll date nears, gap closes between YSRCP and TDP in Andhra

AFTER having swept to power five years ago in a massive victory, silencing naysayers who doubted whether he could replicate his father in popularity, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and YSRCP president Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy is facing what he calls his battle of Kurukshetra.

“The people of Andhra will play the role of Krishna, whereas I will play the role of Arjun. I am contesting the election alone against the anti-poor capitalist partners of the NDA,” he says at every public meeting, pitching his contest against the TDP-led alliance as a “class war” between the rich and poor, with him the messiah of the masses with his welfare schemes.

All the state’s Lok Sabha and Assembly seats will vote simultaneously on May 13. In 2019, the YSRCP had won 151 of the 175 Assembly seats, with a vote share of 49.95%, reducing the TDP to 23 seats and 39.17% votes. The JanaSena Party (JSP), which contested in alliance with the BSP and Left, won one seat and got 5.53% votes. The Congress got a mere 1.17% of the votes, and 0 seats.

The YSRCP had also swept the Lok Sabha polls, winning 22 of the 25 seats (49.89% of the votes), with the TDP winning three (40.19%).ress

Just over six months ago, Jagan started his campaign with the confidence of the 2019 result behind him, as the TDP looked lacklustre. “Why not 175?’’ was his slogan as he exhorted leaders and cadre to try to win all the Assembly seats in the state.

However, that got a reality check after the TDP, BJP and JSP managed to forge an alliance. Consequently, Jagan changed his focus to battling anti-incumbency, with party candidates who were seen as vulnerable dropped. Now, a quarter of the YSRCP’s sitting MLAs have either been dropped or their constituencies changed, while among MPs, only 6