The ruling YSR Congress Party’s strategy to drop several sitting MLAs and MPs in Andhra Pradesh for the forthcoming polls has triggered a spate of resignations which have come as a blow to the party. However, these were not unexpected considering the change of tactic by the YSRCP. The ruling party which has 151 MLAs in the 175-member Assembly has so far released three lists for Assembly polls. The party has announced candidates for 59 seats. It has denied tickets to as many as 23 sitting MLAs. YSRCP was earlier planning to go for elections with a majority of the sitting MPs and MLAs. The defeat of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in the recent Assembly elections in neighbouring Telangana forced the YSRCP to reconsider its strategy.
Like YSRCP, BRS too had an overwhelming majority in the 119-member Telangana Assembly. Aiming for a third term in power, BRS had renominated almost all sitting MLAs. However, 65 out of its 104 sitting MLAs were defeated. But unlike BRS, YSRCP may not be facing voter fatigue but still it does not want to take any chances. It is not only dropping the sitting MLAs and MPs but also fielding some sitting MPs in Assembly elections and shifting some MLAs to Lok Sabha constituencies. The revolt in the YSRCP camp in some constituencies is likely to benefit the TDP-Jana Sena alliance. A few legislators have already defected to either TDP-JSP
The revolt may also benefit the Congress, which is hoping for a reversal of its political fortunes in the state following the victories in Karnataka and Telangana. The joining of Jagan Mohan Reddy’s sister Y S Sharmila into the Congress has infused optimism among the party ranks. Now that Sharmila was appointed president of the Congress’ state unit, the party may attract a section of the disgruntled leaders from YSRCP. As most of the leaders in YSRCP were earlier part of the Congress, they may throw their weight behind Sharmila. This may at least place the party on the recovery path after drawing a blank in two successive elections.
If the Congress party succeeds in having some representation in the Assembly and improves its vote share to 10-12, it will be a significant improvement. YSRCP is not the only party facing dissidence over the denial of tickets to sitting MLAs and MPs. The TDP also faced the same situation in the Vijayawada Lok Sabha constituency, where the sitting MP Kesneni Srinivas quit the party and crossed over to YSRCP after the party leadership hinted that it plans to give the ticket to his brother Kesineni Srinath this time. So it looks like political loyalties are changing rapidly ahead of the simultaneous polls to the Andhra Pradesh Assembly and the Lok Sabha, likely to be held in April-May.
