Analyzing the reasons for the defeat of the YSRCP in the recently concluded elections, many national media outlets opine that neglecting Amaravati was a primary factor.
Sitting in their studios in Delhi, they couldn’t possibly be more wrong. Amaravati was not such a significant factor in the election. In fact, it was one of the reasons why Jagan won in 2019.
People believed that the new capital and the ridiculous agreements signed by Chandrababu with the Singapore consortium were aimed solely for the benefit of the Kamma community, a gigantic real-estate venture to enrich themselves for generations to come.
After the YSRCP came to power, a list was also read out in the Assembly pointing out the principal beneficiaries and investors from the community who had invested in Amaravati.
Jagan’s three capitals’ proposal would have gone through but for judicial hurdles on account of petitions filed by the TDP.
Either way, there is no common man in Andhra who wept inconsolably because Jagan neglected Amaravati, except for the stakeholders.
The mistake Jagan did was to focus solely on his core vote bank at the expense of the rest of the population.
The tax-payer whose money was being used for the welfare schemes and the rest of the people felt abandoned by the government.
Welfare schemes make sense when the financial health of the government is good, not when the State is facing a bleak period because of bifurcation.
Jagan managed to retain his vote share but the swing voters completely deserted him. There are many such reasons but Amaravati clearly is not the major one.