Jaganmohan Reddy won Kadapa Lok Sabha seat by a huge margin

NEW DELHI: Former Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Rajshekhar Reddy’s son Jaganmohan Reddy broke records when he won the Kadapa Lok Sabha seat with a margin of more than 5.63 lakh votes, causing much discomfiture to the Congress. The Jagan wave reflected also in the massive victory of his mother Vijaya Lakshmi, who won the Pulivendula assembly constituency by a margin of more than 85,000 votes.

Jagan Reddy formed his own party, YSR Congress, in November last year, after falling out with the Congress leadership on a number of issues, starting with the party high command’s opposition to his Odarpu Yatra in memory of his late father. Since then, however, Jagan has emerged as a major threat to the Congress rule in the state, with his demonstrated ability to win votes and wean away elected representatives.

Andhra Pradesh is a critical state for the Congress. The state not only has elected 34 MPs for the party, but is also a major source of political and financial clout. It is in this citadel of Congress domination that Jagan has leveraged his father’s political legacy and emerged as a threat to the party.

Jagan has, in fact, repeatedly taunted that the state government is surviving on his mercy, and he could pull it down at his mercy. While Congress dismisses this as posturing, it’s an open secret that the Kiran Kumar Reddy government is a leaking ship in choppy waters.

For the central government, Jagan’s support on the Telengana issue will also be critical. While it has successfully put off a decision till after the assembly polls, that has only delayed the inevitable and the politically explosive issue will have to be reopened soon.