It has been three years since YS Jagan Mohan Reddy came to power in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Out of these, two years were consumed by the woes of the Corona pandemic.
As far as Andhra Pradesh politics are concerned YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, Chandrababu Naidu and Pawan Kalyan are the main leaders representing three parties.
Let us see the performance of these three leaders in the last three years.
YS Jagan Mohan Reddy:
Strengths:
1. The first and foremost strength of Jagan Mohan Reddy is his ability to implement the manifesto in the first three years of his rule against all odds. Almost every poor family in the state is receiving one or the other scheme from the government.
2. The reformation of government schools with better conditions, uniforms for the poor children is the historical change that he brought in the first three years.
3. The condition of government hospitals has also improved drastically. The services are also improved. Aarogya Sri beneficiaries are saluting the government for effective implementation of the scheme.
4. He reshuffled the ministries as promised. By giving Ministry to all the key leaders in the party he kept the scope of emerging rebels within the party at bay.
5. He is not showing nepotism or partiality in terms of punishing the convicts. He is allowing the law and order function smoothly in the state. He didn't even stop the arrest of his party's MLC Ananthababu in a murder case.
6. He is working towards bringing new investments in the state and already the industrial hub in Kadapa is showing the results.
Weaknesses:
1. There is no number-2 in the party till now. The cadre is strong and intact but the number two position is still vacant.
2. He is not comfortable with handling press meets. He says whatever he wants to say and quits but hardly faces the questions from the media.
3. When the party cadre is behaving beyond the limits of social acceptance, he is not reprimanding them and taking necessary steps.
4. The prices of liquor and sand are not under control. Though many assumed that there would be complete prohibition, things are not moving effectively on those lines.
Chandrababu Naidu:
Strengths:
1. He is proving active in spite of his age. He is participating in political rallies and meetings aggressively unlike before.
2. He has the biggest advantage of some forces who can trouble the government by giving tough fights in the court.
3. Pawan Kalyan who shunned Chandrababu Naidu in 2019 elections is now getting ready to shoulder the TDP. This is an advantage to the party to an extent.
4. The media backup is continuing as usual. The TV channels and news dailies are toiling hard to bring Chandrababu back to power.
Weaknesses:
1. He didn't gel with the constituency people during the corona times and eventually the YSRCP strengthened its hold in Kuppam.
2. His biggest minus is his son Lokesh who is not growing up as a promising successor.
3. He couldn't hold the 23 MLAs he won. While some became loyalists to YSRCP, others are not active, believing that there is no future to the party.
4. He is unable to build confidence in the cadre and party workers.
5. The people lost faith in Chandrababu as he is blatantly telling lies in this social media era.
Pawan Kalyan:
Strengths:
1. The film Bheemla Nayak getting troubled with the rules of YSRCP government made him gain some sympathy from the public.
2. His activities of fighting against the bad roads in the state and extending financial help to poor farmers made him win some image in the public.
Weaknesses:
1. His speeches hold no grip and sense. He speaks junk with forced statements. He always shows off his fickle mindedness with his speeches.
2. He is still branded as a part time politician which is not giving any impetus to the party and cadre.
3. He is unable to pump in confidence among the people that he would stand for serious politics.
We have to see how the performance of the above three leaders will be in the coming two years to face the 2024 general election and taste the result.