YSR Congress party president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy is facing the biggest ever turmoil in his life. He might have experienced tough times in his political career and faced personal setbacks earlier. But, the current imbroglio will be the toughest for him to tackle on both personal and political grounds. This is because both his party and he himself are in dire straits after losing power in the 2024 assembly elections on several counts.
Even before recovering from the ignominious defeat in the elections, Jagan Mohan Reddy has been mired in a family feud that is likely to have a bigger impact on his political future. Jagan’s biggest enemy is not just Chandrababu Naidu any more. His sister Sharmila Reddy, who kicked up an unprecedented sibling war over share of properties and assets, will pose a bigger threat to Jagan.
Jagan and his coterie, who initially felt that Sharmila is a trifling rival and ignored her aspersions, have now realised that she cannot be taken carelessly any more because a fair bit of damage has already been done by her. Her series of allegations created a huge headache for Jagan and his party.
The public spat between Jagan and Sharmila damaged the former’s image and created a wave of sympathy for the latter. Even some of the hard-core supporters of YSR Congress party and YS Rajasekhar Reddy are expressing empathy for Sharmila. Many other are of the opinion that Jagan shouldn’t have dragged this far and the issue should have been settled with the four walls.
The manner in which Sharmila has been accusing Jagan of not standing by his words and commitments in sharing their father’s inheritance will only erode his popularity and create a negative impression among the common public. Why didn’t he think of the consequences and reconciled with Sharmila?
After the humiliating defeat in the recent polls, Jagan’s relevance started diminishing because of his poor governance and bad decisions in the last five years. Many leaders from his party started defecting into other parties. Moreover, the new government has been moving ahead with great confidence and trust of the public.
There is ample support from the centre as well. If the NDA government continues the same tempo of governance for the next few years and prioritise the development of the state in various aspects, it would be very difficult for Jagan to stage a comeback. Besides this, he will have to face several pending legal cases relating to disproportionate assets and money laundering.
The road ahead will be very bumpy for Jagan Mohan Reddy. To fight on public issues and stay relevant in Andhra politics, he will first need to set his house in order.