Reddy reckoner in AP

The saying ‘Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned’ could well encapsulate the riveting political tale of YS Jaganmohan Reddy’s rise to power in Andhra Pradesh (AP).

Aside from vanquishing bitter rival and once-kingmaker Nara Chandrababu Naidu of Telugu Desam Party, Reddy’s massive sweep in the 2019 Assembly and Lok Sabha polls utterly decimated the Congress party in AP. More significantly, it exacted sweet revenge on the grand old party and its leader Sonia Gandhi, who as party president had reportedly insulted Reddy’s mother, YS Vijayamma.

In fact, the 46-year-old Reddy’s race to the chief minister’s chair has all the makings of a blockbuster Telugu movie set in the faction-ridden Rayalaseema region of AP. It began immediately after the sudden death of his father, YS Rajasekhara Reddy (YSR), in a helicopter crash on September 2, 2009. Into his second term as chief minister, YSR was a close confidante of Sonia Gandhi and his 33 Members of Parliament brought stability to the Manmohan Singh-led United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre.

Even before the funeral ceremonies were over, a section of the Congress dashed Reddy’s hopes of even getting a responsible position in the party, leave alone succeeding his father. Dejected, he set out on the ‘Odarpu Yatra’ — a tour ostensibly to console the families of those who had reportedly died of shock following YSR’s unexpected death. Seeing the huge response and sensing trouble, the UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi asked YSR’s widow, Vijayamma, to cut short Reddy’s solemn show.

This diktat, sometime in the middle of 2010, miffed the YSR family. Hailing from Pulivendula in Kadapa district, the family had long been wedded to the Congress party, with YSR and his brother YS Vivekananda Reddy serving it for many years. Their father, YS Raja Reddy, a well-known contractor and politician, was killed in a faction fight in 1998. The family’s treatment by the Congress incensed Reddy and stirred the rebel in him. Determined to teach the party a lesson, he broke away and formed the YSR Congress. He resigned his MP seat from Kadapa in November 2010 and won the by-election in May 2011 with 5.75 lakh votes. His mother won the Assembly seat of Pulivendula represented by YSR.

Thereafter, over nine years, Reddy single-handedly built his party, even while fighting allegations of seeking ‘quid pro quo’ investments in his private businesses in exchange for favours from the YSR government, accusations of amassing illegal wealth, and serving a 16-month jail term. His mettle was also tested by a chain of cataclysmic events that shook AP’s political landscape in the wake of YSR’s death. The Congress high command made a political lightweight, K Rosaiah, the new CM. Smelling a big opportunity for the creation of a separate Telangana state, Telangana Rastra Samithi chief K Chandrashekhar Rao began a ‘fast unto death’ in November 2009. This forced Sonia Gandhi to get the then home minister P Chidambaram to declare the Congress’s intent to grant separate statehood.

As pressure mounted with the continuing agitation for Telangana, the Congress replaced Rosaiah with Nallari Kiran Kumar Reddy, who, too, could do little to rein in the situation. The YSR Congress and Jaganmohan Reddy stood their ground for a united AP even as Naidu adopted an ambiguous ‘two eye’ policy for Telangana and Andhra, while supporting unity. In the end, the Congress split the state to gain political advantage and, with the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party, passed the bill for the creation of Telangana in February 2014.

In the elections that followed in April-May 2014, Reddy was confident of winning big, and even the exit polls seemed to back him. He was, after all, riding on the tremendous goodwill generated by YSR’s schemes such as Rajiv Arogyasri for healthcare, ₹1 per kg rice, ₹35,000 fee reimbursement for students, Abhaya Hastham scheme for the girl child, and Rajiv Gruhakalpa housing for poor. His ‘Odarpu Yatra’ and his stance for a united AP, too, had appeared to strike a chord with a large section of people. However, Naidu — aided by his alliance with the BJP and the Modi wave — successfully elbowed Reddy out.

The rapidly maturing politician in Reddy decided to put the setback behind him and began to consolidate support with renewed vigour. Naidu mounted fresh cases against him, even as he continued to battle many of the older ones. But he never took his eye off the main target — capturing the seat of power.

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As Naidu busied himself with selling big dreams for a new capital in Amaravati and attracting investments to “make AP the No 1 state economically by 2029”, Jagan went back to his favourite modus operandi — reaching out to people. He made big waves with his rallies, village visits and, finally, the record-breaking 3,600-km, 340-day Praja Sankalpa Yatra, which brought him in touch with an estimated one crore people during 2018-19. He announced schemes in tune with YSR’s pet projects to attract voters across all sections and castes.

Though Naidu managed to poach 23 of his MLAs (Members of the Legislative Assembly), Reddy outsmarted him by harping on his failure to secure for the state a Special Category Status from the Centre. The TDP chief was finally pushed to break away from the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance in February 2018. Reddy next cornered the CM with corruption charges related to the Polavaram irrigation project and construction of the Amaravati township. What finally sealed the advantage in his favour was the support extended by KCR in neighbouring Telangana and the BJP’s all-out attack against Naidu. And yet, it’s the scale of Reddy’s victory that has caught everyone by surprise, including his party and its political strategist Prashant Kishor, who gave shape to Reddy’s campaign.

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Thus AP, christened ‘Sunrise State’ by Naidu, has witnessed the rise of a son who ended up outshining not just his father but even the great NT Rama Rao. In 1983, NTR rode to power within just nine months of forming the TDP. In 2004, YSR had overthrown Naidu, but in 2019 his son drubbed the TDP to its worst showing in 37 years. Naidu also has the dubious distinction of losing to both father and son.

With age on his side, Reddy, who holds a Bachelor’s degree in commerce, will be looking forward to leaving an even more lasting legacy. But first, now that he has been sworn in, his immediate task will be to emerge clean from the nearly 31 cases pending against him, including 11 under CBI probe. He would also need to shake off the image of being “brash and dictatorial” that his opponents have repeatedly played up. The mother of all challenges, of course, is to tackle the empty coffers and multifold economic hurdles as he embarks on his promised task of rebuilding AP, and obtaining funding and the crucial special category status for the state. The single-most critical factor for his political survival, perhaps, would be his handling of the relationship with the Modi government at the Centre.

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