Jaganmohan Reddy basking in new glory, and why

A jubilant winner Jagan gets lifted by Vijay Sai Reddy, his confidant and family loyalist. (Photo: Twitter)

The results of the Andhra local body elections which were held on the 10th of March have been in exceptional favour of the ruling YSR Congress party, winning 73 of the 75 municipalities across 11 municipal corporations. A mandate which is a testament to the confidence of the Andhra people in the party led by the chief minister, Jaganmonhan Reddy. Four of the municipalities became unanimous, in favour of the YSRCP prior to the election due to which elections were not conducted in those municipalities.

The opposition, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) won in two civic bodies of Tadipatri and Mydukur with bleak margins while parties such as BJP, CPI, CPM and JSP could only manage to score single digit wards in the state. While, Independent candidates bagged 66 wards of which 2 were unanimous. The counting for the 47 wards of Eluru was put on hold by the High Court while election was not held for one ward in the Tirupati Corporation.

The victories of YSRC in the cities of Visakhapatnam, Guntur and Vijayawada were a body blow to the TDP, especially since TDP chief Chandrabandu Naidu was serious in his efforts to raise the issue of the capital city of Amravati to rock the YSR vote bank and performing well in the local body elections was essential for the former ruling body.

The result of the election should not be a surprise to people, considering the chief minister’s confidence in his welfare programmes and policies was such that he did not even step out of his camp office. The YSRCP’s clean sweep of these elections in addition to the previous panchayati and assembly elections has established the party as a formidable force, the popularity of which is on a continuous rising trajectory.