Election battle heats up as families split on political lines re salvos
It is probably the ‡rst time that the people are witnessing rivalry between siblings, parents and children taking centre stage during elections
n the Assembly elections in the past, the State of Andhra Pradesh has pitched battles between friends and distant relatives standing up against each other in the electoral battle. But it may be for the rst time that we see ghting between siblings, father and son, and father and daughter.
The ugliest of all political spat is the one between Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and his sister Y.S. Sharmila, the children of former Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhas Reddy, who were inseparable at one point in time.
In fact, when Y.S. Jagan was jailed for over 15 months by the CBI for his alleged involvement in quid pro quo cases, it was Ms. Sharmila who took up the mantle of the YSR Congress
IY.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy
party that was oated by her brother. Ms. Sharmila claims that she had played a key role in supporting her brother both in 2014 and 2019 elections and had contributed hugely for the Jagan winning handsomely in 2019 elections, when YSRCP had swept the polls by securing 151 seats out of 175. But now, both brother and sister are at loggerheads. Sharmila has quit the
YSRCP and is now heading the Congress in Andhra Pradesh. She has been aggressively campaigning against Jagan and is leaving no stone unturned to prove that the YSRCP has failed on all fronts. She has even gone to the extent of accusing Mr. Jagan of protecting the accused in the murder case of their uncle and former MP of Kadapa, Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy. This accusation has become a major poll issue likely to impact Mr. Jagan’s image to some extent, as the opposition parties, including the NDA alliance of TDP-JSP-BJP, have been highlighting it. Based on a complaint led by YSRCP, the court in Kadapa has passed an order to restrain Ms. Sharmila and others from making the murder accusation a poll issue during the campaign.
Similarly, Kesineni Srinivas
(Nani), who was a TDP loyalist until about a few months ago, shifted to the YSRCP and is now pitched against his brother Kesineni Shivnath (Chinni). Mr. Nani was the sitting MP TDP of Vijayawada, when he moved to YSRCP. Now TDP has given the same ticket to Mr. Sivanath. Considered a TDP loyalist and tall TDP leader, di£erences with the party cropped up when rumours started to spread that Shivnath would be given the ticket in 2024. Now, both brothers are ghting a pitched battle for the Vijayawada Lok Sabha seat.
In Anakapalli, deputy CM Budi Mutyala Naidu’s son Budi Ravi Kumar has gone openly against his father. Dissatised with his father’s decision to eld his half-sister E. Anuradha for the MLA seat from V. Madugula, he has launched a campaign against his father on social media, through hoardings, and through door-to-door campaigns. He even has decided to stand as an independent candidate.
But surprising among all is the statement made by Kapu leader Mudragada Padmanabham’s daughter Barlapudi Kranthi. She openly criticised her father for joining the YSRCP and alleged that Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy was using her father to defame JSP president Pawan Kalyan.