A trying time for the YSRCP

YSRCP chief Jagan Mohan Reddy. File
| Photo Credit: ANI

Several leaders have deserted the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) after it suffered its worst-ever poll debacle in the Assembly elections this year. This casts some doubt over the future of the 13-year-old party.

YSRCP chief Jagan Mohan Reddy steered the party to power in 2019, winning 151 of the 175 Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh. However, in the 2024 Assembly elections, the party’s performance was dismal. It lost against the Telugu Desam Party (TDP)-led National Democratic Alliance and won only 11 seats. Of these, seven were from the Rayalaseema region.

Some leaders who were discontent with Mr. Reddy’s functioning chose to air their grievances publicly after the party’s disastrous performance. Three Rajya Sabha MPs, two MLCs, and party representatives in urban and local bodies have resigned and are set to join any of the three constituents of the NDA: the TDP, the Jana Sena Party (JSP), or the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Switching loyalties is not new in State politics. Mr. Reddy, who criticised the TDP for the defection of 23 YSRCP MLAs between 2014 and 2019, also encouraged four TDP MLAs to support his government, though he did not allow them to join the party. With the change of guard, the fence-sitters are once again looking at the side that has brighter prospects.

While the YSRCP bounced back in 2019 even after 23 MLAs and three MPs left the party, the scenario might not be the same this time. In just over 100 days since the party’s defeat, Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy has lost leaders who are not just politicians, but staunch loyalists of the YSRCP. He has also seen family members leave the party. Former Minister Balineni Sreenivasa Reddy, a close relative of the former Chief Minister; former Minister Mopidevi Venkataramana Rao; and former MLAs Samineni Udayabhanu and Kilari Rosaih have left the party. The three men were loyal to Mr. Reddy’s father, Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, and had stuck with the YSRCP chief during turbulent times.

This shows that Mr. Reddy is getting isolated. Party persons say that Mr. Reddy did not coordinate well and have dialogues with leaders of the party. They alleged that he left party affairs to the people in his coterie. He seldom tried to speak with disgruntled leaders; this, they said, made matters worse for him.

The question now is, can Mr. Reddy keep the remaining flock of his MLAs, MPs, MLCs and leaders together? The government needs Rajya Sabha members and Lok Sabha members to pass crucial Bills. This leaves YSRCP Rajya Sabha members and MLCs vulnerable for poaching. There are already murmurs in political circles that some YSRCP Rajya Sabha members, MLCs, and party leaders are in touch with the NDA and may jump ship soon. Mopidevi Venkataramana Rao, Beeda Mastan Rao, and R. Krishnaiah have all resigned from their Rajya Sabha membership, bringing down the strength of the YSRCP in the Upper House from 11 to 8.

Initially, the YSRCP believed that the NDA would not spread a red carpet for defecting leaders as doing so may cause a rift among the parties of the alliance. However, with JSP chief Pawan Kalyan welcoming senior leaders Mr. Balineni Reddy, Mr. Udayabhanu, and Mr. Kilari Rosaih with open arms, that belief is slowly changing.

Leaders of the YSRCP may not think much before joining the ruling alliance as the TDP is keen on implementing its ‘Red Book’. The Red Book is an initiative of the party to keep track of all the government officers, particularly police officers, who have been allegedly acting on the YSRCP’s command and “terrorising” TDP cadre. In September, former MP Nandigam Suresh was arrested in a case relating to an attack on the TDP headquarters in 2021. Other former ministers and MLAs have also been booked in various cases.

Despite these challenges, Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy cannot be written off. Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu too was written off after the 2019 elections, but he proved all the naysayers wrong with a remarkable comeback from political wilderness just five years later.

Mr. Reddy has also shown that he has a fighting spirit. He won 67 of the 175 Assembly seats in the 2014 elections after being imprisoned for 16 months in the disproportionate assets case. He walked out of prison in 2013 and managed to secure 44.60% votes against the NDA in the 2014 elections. So, while the YSRCP may face trying times now, political equations could change sooner rather than later.