YSRC confident of win after success of yatra

■ Naidu’s winning factors in 2014 gone, says Jagan

The YSR Congress is confident of coming to power in Andhra Pradesh after the Assembly elections, as anti-incumbency was likely to play a key role in turning the ruling party’s fortunes.

The party was also confident that its chief Mr Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s 341-day Praja Sankalpa Yatra would boost the party’s winning chances.

Sources said the party chief was of the opinion that not having antiincumbency against Telugu Desam chief Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu, as he was in Opposition for 10 years, and the euphoria of Mr Narendra Modi in 2014 had helped the TD-BJP combine in the last Assembly polls. He added to that the effect of Jana Sena president Mr Pavan Kalyan and farmers’ loan waiver scheme.

Party leaders now believe that Mr Reddy’s padyatra has helped him create a strong bond with the people, and the direct interaction between him and the people should go on till the end of the election.

In his 3,648-km yatra, Mr Reddy has covered 2,516 villages in 134 constituencies out of 175 segments in the state and he now plans to go on a bus yatra to cover the remaining 41 constituencies. Sources said Mr Reddy’s mother Ms Vijayamma and sister Ms Sharmila will campaign in the polls though they won’t themselves contest.

Party leaders also said that Mr Naidu’s lastminute sops, replicating the YSRC’s promises of Navaratna, would not work as people were realising that the announcements were merely a step to distract them from the YSRC.

They are confident that people will not believe the TD’s claim about the YSRC having a tacit understanding with the BJP. Instead, they are citing

a Maharashtra minister’s wife’s continuation on the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams Trust Board as evidence of continuation of ties between the TD and the BJP, even after Mr Naidu announced in March 2018 about ending ties with the BJP.

The party leaders feel that Mr Pavan Kalyan is also working for the TD, as was evident from his tours confined to the coastal districts. They are saying that Mr Kalyan is not even attempting to visit

Rayalaseema, as the TD wants the Balija community, which is said to have been with the TD since its beginning, to not get distracted.

YSRC leaders strongly believe that the murderous attack on the party chief at Visakhapatnam airport had exposed the TD’s conspiracy to eliminate him and this has had a strong impact on people’s minds.

Another reason they feel confident of their party’s prospects in the polls is the Rythu

Bharosa scheme, one of the promises of Navaratna, which, they feel, will help them win in the coming elections. The party has announced

`12,500 in financial assistance to each of the state’s 85 lakh farmers during pre-sowing season.

They claimed that the TD’s announcement to give `4,000 to each farmer apart from the Rs

6,000 assistance under the PM’s Kisan Sampada Yojana was a means to cheat the farmers.