YSRCP president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy seems to be ready even to move mountains to upend Pawan Kalyan’s ambitious plans of entering the Andhra Pradesh assembly by winning in the upcoming elections from Pithapuram constituency. Since the day Pawan Kalyan’s candidature was announced by the TDP-JJSP alliance, YS Jagan has been making every possible effort to defeat the Janasena president in Pithapuram.
From marshaling some high-profile leaders to Pithapuram for election preparedness immediately after Pawan’s seat was announced to roping in Kapu stalwarts like Mudragada and Hari Rama Jogayya as a counter to his caste equations, Jagan made his intentions very clear about the Pithapuram seat.
Now, hours before the close of the election campaign, the Andhra Pradesh CM announced that Vanga Geetha, who is pitching against Pawan Kalyan in Pithapuram on behalf of the YSR Congress party, will be made Deputy Chief Minister of the state if she wins over Pawan Kalyan and if the party retains power again in the state.
During his public meeting in Pithapuram on the last day, Jagan appealed to the people there to vote for Vanga Geetha and see her as Deputy CM of the State. Jagan and his party supporters might have assumed that the surprise announcement in the last minute would influence the voters and improve Geetha’s chances in Pithapuram. But there will be very little or no impact, as per political experts.
This is because none of the MLAs, either from Bhimavaram or Gajuwaka, where Pawan faced a humiliating defeat in the 2019 elections, received any notable recognition in Jagan’s cabinet in the last five years. Moreover, the previous government nominated five deputy chief ministers after coming to power in 2019, and none of them had any relevance or significance to any of the decisions taken by the government in the last five years. Also, the idea of choosing five deputy CMs was criticized widely by the opposition parties and the public because there is no bigger role for them in governance or other important aspects.
Jagan Mohan Reddy’s latest offer to make Geetha Deputy also started receiving mixed reactions from all quarters. Some are questioning what the use is even if she becomes Deputy CM because none of the cabinet ministers have any prominent role in government decisions, as Jagan solely calls the shots without giving any chance to others in his team.