How Serious Is North Andhra On Jagan ?

The supporters of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSR Congress party are yet to come out of the shock delivered by the people of Andhra Pradesh in the assembly elections. The historic upset needs a thorough post-mortem within the cadre if the party wants to revive the lost glory in the coming years.

What is more baffling and unfathomable for the YSRCP high command is the forgettable decimation dished out in the North Andhra, a region which it aimed to make a bastion in 2024 with the idea of turning Vishakapatnam as executive capital as part of the three capital formula floated by Jagan himself during the 2019 assembly sessions.

Jagan’s proposal received a huge backlash from all quarters. But, he still went ahead without paying heed to the consequences. The people of North Andhra, particularly Vizag, sternly opposed the move due to various reasons. As Jagan is hell-bent on shifting the capital, the people belonging to this region seems to have expressed their dissent in the form of election results.

A look at the dismal performance of YSRCP in North Andhra in these elections will give a clear picture on how serious the people are against the three capital idea, especially the proposal of Vizag as an executive capital.

Besides sweeping the Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts, the NDA alliance has delivered a knockout punch to the YSRCP in Vishakapatnam district as well. The winning margins of NDA candidates in some of the high-profile constituencies of North Andhra is a pointer to the negativity received by the YSRCP.

The highest majority in the state also belongs to North Andhra as Palla Srinivas from Gajuwaka won with a margin of 95000 votes against former IT minister Gudivada Amarnath. The second and fourth highest majorities also belong to the same region. Ganta Srinivas from Bheemili and Ramesh Babu from Pendurti won with 91000 and 81000 votes respectively. Also in the list is Vizag East constituency is Velagapudi Ramakrishna Babu who won with over 70000 votes.

Not just Vizag, but the candidates from neighbouring North Andhra regions also won with a decisive mandate which makes it clear that the people rejected the idea of three capitals.