Monday and Friday – Two big days for AP every week

A scenario akin to that of 2014–19 is likely to repeat in Andhra Pradesh politics yet again. If we time travel to that period, Monday and Friday used to be significant days every week in our state as far as politics is concerned.

This is because both the then Chief Minister Chandra Babu Naidu and the then opposition leader YS Jagan Mohan Reddy used to be in the news on every Monday and Friday, respectively.

Back in 2014–19, Naidu used to visit the Polavaram project, the lifeblood of Andhra Pradesh, every Monday during the first three years of his tenure to inspect the works happening there and to review the progress minutely. He accorded full focus to the Polavaram project every Monday, given its significance to the state. So, Somavaram (Monday) turned out to be called ‘Polavaram’ in political parlance.

Once again, with Naidu back at the helm in Andhra Pradesh, the Somavaram-Polavaram tradition is back. Immediately after taking charge as Chief Minister following the humongous victory, Naidu directed the authorities concerned to make the necessary arrangements for his visit every Monday to resume the activities at the place of the project. He is determined to complete the project in the next few years and create history.

Meanwhile, YS Jagan used to visit the CBI court every Friday prior to 2019 to attend the weekly hearing of his disproportionate cases. Even when he was busy with his marathon tour (Padayatra), traveling to different constituencies, Jagan used to take a break every Friday to attend the CBI court in Hyderabad, regarding different cases framed against him. The ruling party used to criticize him for facing numerous charges.

Once again, Jagan will need to attend the CBI court every Friday because he is no longer the Chief Minister of the state. In the last five years, Jagan sought exemption from attending court with the excuse that he was the CM of the state and it would be difficult for him to travel from Vijayawada to Hyderabad every Friday, and it would also be a burden on the government exchequer.

Now that he has lost even the status of opposition leader due to the humiliating electoral defeat of YSRCP in the recent assembly elections and also the fact that the courts are in plans to speed up the pending disproportionate cases across the country, Jagan has no other option but to attend the CBI court every Friday.

There will be no respite for him as he has no support from the central government as well. Moreover, the new government under Naidu is likely to dig up the irregularities committed during his tenure and foist cases on him for sure.

So, it is going to be a long legal tussle for Jagan Mohan Reddy once again. How he manages to come out of the current crisis needs to be watched out in the coming days.

After five years, Monday and Friday will have a lot of significance in Andhra Pradesh politics yet again for these reasons.