Will Jagan maintain Pulivendula, the family stronghold?

May 9, Amaravati The YSR family has had such sway over the Pulivendula Assembly seat for more than 40 years that the results of subsequent elections were always certain, and frequently the only thing to wait for was the winning margin.

In the area currently known as Kadapa, the residence of the late Chief Minister, representatives of this seat have included Yeduguru Sandinti Rajasekhara (YSR) Reddy, his brother, uncle, wife, and son.

Even when Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy launched a new party, YSR Congress, and despite his rebellion from Congress, which his father was connected to until his untimely death in a helicopter accident in 2009, the family was able to retain its vice-like hold over the constituency.

Following his father, Jagan became the second MLA from Pulivendula to hold the position of Chief Minister following his victory in 2019. Five years later, he is not just up against a determined opponent at home but also struggling to hold onto power.

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) raised the ante with the counter-slogan, “Why not Pulivendula?” if the governing YSR Congress had first created the phrase “Why not 175” with the intention of winning handily in Assembly elections.

Jagan carried the battle to the doorstep of YSRCP Chief N. Chandrababu Naidu, the leader of the TDP, while the latter attempted to seize his stronghold of Kuppam.

The TDP is doing all in its power to dethrone Jagan in his own state as it campaigns in tandem with the BJP and Jana Sena for the May 13 elections.

Mareddy Ravindranath Reddy, popularly known as “B.Tech” Ravi, of the TDP is putting a lot of effort into preventing Jagan from winning three straight games from Pulivendula, but the conflict in his family has made matters worse for Jagan.

After supporting him in every election since he founded the YSRCP in 2011, Jagan’s sister, Y. S. Sharmila, has joined the opposition Congress and is running for parliament from the Kadapa seat against their cousin and current MP, Y. S. Avinash Reddy.

One of the seven Assembly divisions of the Kadapa Lok Sabha constituency, Pulivendula is also regarded as a YSR family pocket borough.

But it seems that the pitch for Jagan has been dampened by the bitterness and family rivalry brought on by the accusations surrounding the death of their uncle and former minister, Y. Vivekananda Reddy.

A few days before the 2019 elections, Vivekananda Reddy was assassinated. Five years later, the dramatic case has resurfaced, haunting Jagan, with the deceased leader’s daughter, Y. S. Suneetha, teaming up with Sharmila to pursue justice.

The cousin sisters are asking Jagan why, in spite of the CBI listing him as an accused in the case, he fielded Avinash Reddy once again.

The two have asked further questions in response to Jagan’s claim that his sisters were misled by the TDP and have urged people to oppose him for allegedly protecting the murder suspect.

Since YSR won Pulivendula for the first time in 1978, the YSR family has never experienced this circumstance. Following three terms as an MLA, YSR left Pulivendula for his younger brother Vivekananda Reddy and ran for the Lok Sabha from Kadapa. Following his four terms as an MP, YSR returned to Pulivendula in 1999 and has since concentrated on Andhra Pradesh politics, which was still unified at the time.

The turning point for YSR occurred when it guided the Congress party to victory in 2004. In 2009, he stayed in power, but a few months later, he perished in a helicopter accident.

YSR’s wife, Y. S. Vijayamma, was elected as the only candidate for Congress from Pulivendula in the 2010 by-election, as no other party put forward a candidate. But the rebellion against Congress leadership led by YSR’s son and later by Kadapa MP, together with the events that followed, fundamentally changed the political landscape.

In order to trigger by-elections in 2011, Jagan and his mother resigned from the Congress and founded the YSR Congress. By a margin of more than 81,000 votes, Vijayamma prevailed against her brother-in-law and Congress candidate Y. S. Vivekananda Reddy to retain the Pulivendula seat. Jagan secured a resounding majority of more than 5.45 lakh votes to retain the Kadapa parliamentary seat.

In the 2014 elections, Jagan relocated to Pulivendula, leaving Kadapa for Avinash Reddy after the split of Andhra Pradesh. In 2014, Jagan defeated S. V. Satish Reddy of the TDP by a margin of 75,243; however, in 2019, that margin increased to 90,000 against the same opponent.

B. Tech Ravi is motivated to unseat Pulivendula this time after being declared a TDP contender more than a year ago. In 2011, he ran as a TDP candidate and received just over 11,000 votes, placing him in a dismal third place.

He thinks that the division within the YSR family and the anti-incumbency sentiment will work in his favor.

Interestingly, B.Tech Ravi was victorious against Vivekananda Reddy in the 2017 MLC elections, hailing from the Kadapa local authority seat. As a candidate for the YSR Congress, Vivekananda Reddy had entered the race.

Since it just established an office in Pulivendula last year, the major opposition party has been working steadily to weaken Jagan’s hold on the district.

In an attempt to unseat her brother, Sharmila has put forward Dhruva Kumar Reddy as the Congress candidate.

The fact that Sharmila is a contender for the Kadapa Lok Sabha seat is probably going to hurt Jagan’s chances.

It is noteworthy that Shaik Dastagiri, who was once an accused person but later became an approver in the murder case of Vivekananda Reddy, has joined the Jai Bhim Rao Bharat Party.