Hyderabad, February 08: Has the Congress succeeded in checking the rise of Jagan Mohan Reddy by roping in Chiranjeevi? The answer, according to both Congress and TDP leaders, is ‘yes’ though it is too early to say how useful Chiranjeevi will be to the ruling party when the real test comes up in 2014.
Arithmetically, the addition of the Praja Rajyam Party’s numbers to the Congress tally in the Assembly gives the Kiran Kumar Reddy government a much-needed breather given the undeclared attempt by the Jagan camp to destabilise the regime.
Congressmen believe that once the Jagan threat recedes and Kiran Kumar sails through the upcoming budget session, the number of MLAs professing loyalty to Jagan will start dwindling. With the TDP in no mood to bring down the government now, J campers – except those who have more than a political relationship with him – might find it difficult to sup with the rebel for much longer.
Observers say the Congress-PRP merger will derail the Jagan group’s plans in the long run. The calculation in the J camp until now has been that the 15 plus percentage votes garnered by Chiranjeevi would accrue to the young leader given the declining image of the PRP in the eyes of the people. It was only a question of building further from there.
Consequent on the merger, however, observers feel that voters who went opted for Chiranjeevi in 2009 will now return to wherever they came from: the TDP or the Congress. Kapus in coastal Andhra, who have been showing interest in Jagan, might also entertain second thoughts now that the Congress has absorbed their hero, Chiranjeevi.
But there is a flip side to this and this is where TDP leaders see a reason to rejoice. The backward classes, till not long ago staunch supporters of the TDP, shifted to the Congress during Y S Rajasekhara Reddy’s time. If the Kapus move to the Congress now, it is more than likely that the other BCs (to whom the Kapus are anathema) could return to the TDP.
According to a senior TDP leader from coastal Andhra, the Congress-PRP merger will prove beneficial to his party in the long run. He expects Jagan to split the Reddy vote and take away a section of the SC vote, traditional supporters of Congress.
“We suffered because of the PRP in the last election. Jagan will do the same to the Congress this time round,” the TDP leader said.
–Agencies