YS Jaganmohan Reddy was on Monday accorded a rousing reception in Warangal district which had detested his visit when K Rosaiah was the Chief Minister of united Andhra Pradesh. Jagan embarked on a four-day campaign trail for the by-election to Warangal Lok Sabha seat. When Jagan himself hit the road surprising his own party men, political analysts saw more than meeting the eye.
Are Jagan and his YSR Congress party’s contest in Warangal factors to reckon with? Going by the political equations prevalent in the Telangana heartland, they just don’t matter. The Telangana Rashtra Samithi appears way too ahead of its rivals. After all, this election seems to be between the political parties. Individual contestants don’t really matter as they are neither prominent leaders nor are odds heavily at stake.
The Telugu Desam Party has chosen to leave the seat to the BJP. This is a politically clever move, especially when there is truce sprouting between the bosses of TRS and the TDP at the apex level. The BJP, which may not really make much difference to the winning chances of the TRS candidate, would have the satisfaction of contesting the poll. This is a face-saving for both partners of the National Democratic Alliance.
As for the Congress, Digvijaya Singh, Meira Kumar and other senior leaders are campaigning for former Union Minister Sarve Satyanarayana who was imported from Malkajgiri Lok Sabha seat due to a suicide by the daughter-in-law of party nominee Rajaiah who had to opt out of the contest. This naturally irked the Congress. It has actually been jerked by the incident.
However, taking every one by surprise, Jagan fielded Nalla Suryaprakash as his party nominee. Plus, he sent his trusted lieutenants like MLA Roja for campaign in the first leg. With he entering the campaign trail himself, the electioneering attained glamour, given the fact that he is a crowd puller. That whether the crowds translate into votes or not is a different story.
Given the current scenario, what lends credence to the claims of Congress elders like V. Hanumantha Rao that Jagan would split the Congress vote to help KCR is that YSR Congress doesn’t have a vote bank of its own. It has to eat into the Congress support base, even if it is a minuscule percentage. That whether the Congress can garner a large number of votes is also debatable.
As things appear, the outcome is a given – the TRS is already through. However, Indian voter sometimes holds surprises with himself only to give shocks to the over confident politicos.
Jagan’s party at best can eliminate even this small doubt in the minds of the TRS. The on-record criticism is of course fine with the TRS bosses.
