Dream come true for Jagan Reddy

For 46-year-old Yeduguri Sandinti Jaganmohan Reddy, it is a dream come true.

The YSR Congress president lost the chance to become the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh in 2014 elections, but the victory on Thursday in the 2019 election is very special.

Jagananna as he is fondly addressed, fought with the Congress high command for his legitimate position immediately after the tragic death of his father Y S Rajasekhar Reddy in 2009. However, his dreams were nipped in the bud as a much older and experienced K Rosaiah was installed as the Chief Minister of the united Andhra Pradesh. When his request for organising a statewide “Odarpu Yatra” to console those who died heartbroken by Rajasekhar Reddy’s death was turned down, Jagan came out of the grand old party and launched the YSR Congress Party.

However, YSRCP lost to Nara Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam in the 2014 elections with a difference of over 5 lakh votes. As an opposition leader of the residual Andhra Pradesh state Assembly, Jagan fought tooth and nail against Naidu’s model of the state capital, displacement of farmers, Patti Seema lift irrigation and the rampant corruption across the government offices and the slow progress of Polavaram irrigation project.

Breaking the record of his father Rajasekhar Reddy’s “Praja prasthanam” walkathon that put him in the saddle of CM post of united AP not once but twice, Jagan walked for 360 days and covered the length and breadth of the state through “Maha Sankalp Pada Yatra”. Breaking the stereotype image of a rich lad living in a palatial bungalow in Bangalore, Jagan became a household name. By the time the elections were announced he turned into a matured politician who promised to turn crisis-ridden Andhra Pradesh into a welfare state.

Highlighting the unfulfilled promises of his bête noire and senior politician Nara Chandrababu Naidu, Jagan promises the common man everything under the sun. Voters attending road shows of Jagan go into raptures when Jagan throws barbs at Naidu and his son Nara Lokesh. He makes a point to address every single section of the society by putting his padayatra experience into perspective.

The recent attack at the airport on Jagan, the murder of his paternal uncle in Pulivendula and the data theft allegation against the AP government in Telangana had kept Jagan in limelight throughout the poll campaign.