Will YSRCP prefer early polls in AP?

The ward and village secretariats at present have 1.83 lakh volunteers, whom the Chief Minister described as members of Jagan Army. As part of macro management approach for the elections, the YSRCP leadership has appointed 5.2 lakh 'Gruha Saradhis'

Visakhapatnam: Despite stout denial by the YSRCP leadership, the talk of preponing the Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh is being speculated in various circles.

The speed with which Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, who is also the YSRCP President, is launching one after another schemes aimed at making a dent on the public and on a foundation-stone-laying-spree fuelled the talk in various political parties that the government is bracing up to make the ruling party machinery battle-ready.

Elections to Assembly along with Lok Sabha are due in April-May next year. In the 2019 elections, YSRCP sprang a surprise by winning 151 leaving 23 in the kitty of TDP out of 175 Assembly seats.

The way the R-5 zone issue in capital Amaravati is dealt with to distribute house-sites to the economically weaker sections and the Chief Minister's outburst at the public meeting on Monday at Machilipatnam against the TDP that it is against giving house-sites to the poorer sections and originally wanted the capital proposed by erstwhile government headed by TDP national president N Chandrababu Naidu to convert into a gated community, is also talked about as an attempt to face the elections.

Though the three capital issues are pending before the Supreme Court, the State government wants to make Visakhapatnam the executive capital at the earliest. The Chief Minister made an announcement at the Global Investors' Summit in March and foundation stone laying function of Rs 5,000-crore first phase project of Bhogapuram International Airport that he will relocate to Visakhapatnam in September has fuelled speculation that he may open his camp office.

At all the programmes held to lay a foundation stone for Rs 21,000-crore Adani Data Park and Business Park or Mulapeta (Bhavanapadu) Port or distributing welfare measures to the white card holders and other poorer sections, the Chief Minister made it a point to hit out at his bete noire Naidu and the so-called media allegedly close to the yellow brigade.

A former Minister in the TDP Government told Bizz Buzz that Jagan Mohan Reddy, who keeps his decisions close to his chest, may go for early polls ala Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao in 2018. The reason attributed by TDP leaders is that the present government does not have to face a unified Opposition to put up common candidates.

'Power star' Pawan Kalyan, who is the founder of Jana Sena Party, on several occasions called for preventing split in non-YSRCP parties while BJP, which is on record has an alliance with JSP, is maintaining stoic silence, over his utterances.

Pawan Kalyan has been meeting Chandrababu Naidu on a few occasions after he was prevented by police in Visakhapatnam to hold roadshows in October last year, and has already hinted at going to the elections in alliance with TDP.

BJP State president Somu Veeraju, while declining to comment on the possibility of an alliance between JSP and its old ally TDP, has said that he will discuss with the party leadership about the prevailing political situation.

The ward and village secretariats at present have 1.83 lakh volunteers, whom the Chief Minister described as members of Jagan Army. As part of macro management approach for the elections, the YSRCP leadership has appointed 5.2 lakh 'Gruha Saradhis', an approach followed by BJP to win elections in Uttar Pradesh and other States for effective booth level management at the grassroots.

Chandrababu Naidu and his son Nara Lokesh, who is on a State-wide 4,000-km long padayatra for 400 days from Kuppam to Ichapuram during their roadshows, are asking the party rank and file to gear up to face elections anytime.