In Seemandhra, Chandrababu hands crushing defeat to Jagan

For Nara Chandrababu Naidu, this election was a do-or-die battle, while it was a make-or-break situation for the political career of Yeduguri Sandinti Jaganmohan Reddy in Seemandhra, which will be called officially Andhra Pradesh from 2 June. Now, with the TDP leading in 14 Lok Sabha seats and its ally, the BJP in 3, and the combine leading in 100-plus seats leaving the YSR Congress far behind, the TDP leaders began asserting that they would expedite the legal process against Jagan Reddy. With judicial process staring at him, as he is on a bail, now Jagan Reddy has fewer options but to accept the truth. People did not trust his words, though they turned out in very large numbers to the public meetings addressed by him, his sister and mother. [caption id=“attachment_1527231” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo of BJP leader Prakash Javadekar joining hands with TDP supremo Chandrababu Naidu and other legislators after the two parties announced an alliance for the LS polls in Hyderabad. PTI[/caption] By the time, the final results come, the TDP may emerge a very clear winner leaving the YSRC far behind. For K Chandrasekhar Rao, a victory of his Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), would not only mean a political triumph, but a ‘shashti poorthi’ (he celebrated his 60th birthday in February) gift. His TRS managed leads in 64 Assembly seats and 11 Lok Sabha seats. The Congress had to be content with being a distant no.2 in Telangana. While 175 Assembly constituencies voted in Seemandhra region, 119 Assembly seats went to polls in Telangana. Similarly, the tally for Lok Sabha seats is 25 in Seemandhra and 17 in Telangana. The bitterly fought political battle between Chandrababu Naidu and Jagan, which occupied the television screens, front pages of newspapers and the large real estate in news websites and apps, has come to a logical end today. Chandrbabau Naidu’s aspiration to become the first chief minister of the residual Andhra Pradesh has come true with the voters reinforcing their confidence in him. Jagan, who showcased to the electorate that he had already done homework for the new state, lost the opportunity of becoming the chief minister for the first time in his life. Surely, people did not believe that he unequivocally waged a war against the bifurcation of the state. Electors are convinced by the words of Chandrababu Naidu that Jagan was an offshoot of the Congress and would merge his party with it after the elections. For Naidu too, the new assignment would be much smaller is size, but the task cut out for him is much larger than what he was experienced at. For KCR, it is the logical culmination of his movement. Whether the formation of a separate Telangana can create more jobs or not, most politicians will get new jobs. The biggest of them all is that of the Chief Minister of Telangana. Chandrababu Naidu’s continued tirade against Jagan through the last four years after the demise of YSR Reddy paid off. He upped the ante against Jagan who was incarcerated for 16 months following an indictment by the Central Bureau of Investigation with charges of graft. Naidu had to fight two battles with his principal foci – TRS and YSRC – in two states. Jagan, wittingly or unwittingly, has almost given up on Telangana even before he blew the bugle for the poll battle.