If it was TDP which turned social engineering into its credo for political success in the Telugu states, the YSRCP has taken it to the next level. YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has been very careful about fine balancing castes and regions. He has taken extra precautions to ensure that all the major communities in the state are satisfied about their political representation.

He is said to be factoring caste and religious equations in choosing the chairperson and deputy chairperson of the Legislative Council. Now that chairperson and TDP leader MA Sharief has come to an end, Jagan has to choose a new chairperson. Sources say that Jagan is studying all caste equations deeply.

Sources say that the post might go either to a person from the scheduled castes or from the minority community. They say that Jagan is consulting key leaders of the party on this. The choice could be between Moshen Raju of West Godavari and Iqbal of Hindupuram. One is from the Cental Coastal region while the other is from Rayalaseema. The speaker of the assembly Tammineni Sitara is from North Andhra and he is from the BC community.

Insiders say that if Moshen Raju, a Dalit and a Christian is made the chairperson, then Iqbal, a Muslim from Rayalaseema, would be made the deputy chairperson. If it is Iqbal, then Moshen Raju would be his deputy. Who would be the chief and who would be the deputy chairperson would be decided very soon sources say.

Jagan has initially toyed with the idea of completely abrogating the legislative council. But, within a couple of months, his party would secure the majority. So he has dropped the idea of abrogating it. He is now trying to rehabilitate several leaders, who could not be given MLA tickets in 2019 elections.