YSR Congress was dealt with a double shock on Monday. One Sitting MLA and a newly appointed incharge resigned to the party.
Interestingly, both are from Giant killers seats in 2019 elections. Alla Rama Krishna Reddy who defeated Nara Lokesh in Mangalagiri in the last Election.
The other one is Devan Reddy, the current incharge of YSR Congress in Gajuwaka. Devan Reddy‘s father Thippala Nagi Reddy defeated Pawan Kalyan in the last Election.
Nagi Reddy withdrew from 2024 Election and asked ticket for his son. Jagan agreed and made him Gajuwaka incharge.
YSR Congress cadres are trying to save face with Coverdrives saying that the party is getting rid of losing MLAs. But then, these resignations are definitely a setback to YSR Congress.
Alla Rama Krishna Reddy irrespective of electoral politics is helpful for the party as he always troubled TDP in the name of legal cases. In fact, one of the cases against Chandrababu Naidu was filed by Alla himself.
In place of Alla, Jagan is trying to field Ganji Chiranjeevi hoping he will bring the votes of the weaver community. In Gajuwaka, Jagan wants to capture Yadav votes by giving the ticket to someone of that community.
This strategy is so unlike Jagan of 2019. Back then, Jagan was banking more on his own charishma and the candidate than the caste equations. But this time, caste equations are becoming paramount for the less-confident Jagan Mohan Reddy.
Also it is to be noted that if a party is winning, the leaders will stick to the party even if tickets are denied.
Example of this is Ali. He left TDP after Chandrababu refused ticket but joined YSR Congress even though Jagan did not give him ticket. That is just to be on the winning side. We have seen many leaders joining YSR Congress even though there is no ticket in 2019. But this time it’s different.
If the Giant killers themselves are losing confidence on the party just before the election, it speaks very badly about the party with Elections round the corner.