Why Is Jagan Going To Delhi Now?

Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s sudden tour to Delhi has led to several doubts in the political circles. There is no threat of arrest on Y.S. Avinash Reddy and the Centre also released funds for various welfare schemes.

The TDP leaders said that Jagan was visiting Delhi to consult the BJP with regard to holding early polls. He is petrified that Lokesh’s Yuva Galam and Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan’s Vaarahi could evoke good response from the public and thwart his victory in the upcoming elections.

However, there is information that Jagan is not worried about the polls but is bothered about the number of phases in which polls would be held.

It is learnt that Jagan is of the opinion that poll management would be hard if polls were held in a single phase or in less number of phases. Hence, Jagan has left for Delhi to urge the Delhi authorities to recommend to the ECI to ensure that polls are held in more number of phases in Andhra Pradesh.

Since 2022, elections were held in single phase in Goa, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. Among these, Punjab has 117 seats in the Assembly while all other Assemblies have less than 100 seats.

At the same time, elections were held in 2 phases in Gujarat and Manipur while in Uttar Pradesh, polls were held in 7 phases. Of these three states, except Manipur, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh have more Assembly seats than Andhra Pradesh and the BJP won in both the states.

In 2021, elections in West Bengal having 294 seats were held in 8 phases. In this elections, the BJP won more than 80 per cent of the seats and stood in the second position in that state.

There is an opinion that any political party which is in power in the state and has the cooperation at the Centre, would stand to benefit. If polls are held in multiple phases, poll management would be easy and hence, Jagan wants to ask for elections to be held in 7 phases in AP which has 175 seats.

However, there is information that getting permission for 7 phases of polling is hard for Jagan as the ECI might not accept it.

Neither is AP a strife-torn state nor is it facing internal violence In the state, like in the north-,eastern states. In such a case, holding the elections in a single phase will not be a tough task for the ECI

Now, if the ECI holds elections in multiple phases in AP, it would invite criticism from various quarters. The ECI would not want to take up such a risk for the sake of Jagan.

However, Jagan is likely to seek the cooperation of the Delhi authorities to mount pressure on the ECI for holding the elections in at least three-four phases. If that happens, it could be said that Jagan has succeeded.