For the last few days, YSR Congress party president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy has been doing a lot of exercise on the finalization of candidates for contesting the forthcoming assembly and Lok Sabha elections in the state, most likely to be held in March/April.
As reported earlier, Jagan is banking on the reports he has been obtaining from various sources – his own party intelligence, state intelligence, field-level reports from Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) team members and the reports submitted by party’s regional coordinators.
Party sources said these reports obtained from different sources seem to be conflicting and are confusing Jagan.
“One can understand if all the reports have given the same conclusion about the winning prospects of the sitting MLAs or the prospective candidates. But with different reports giving different views about them, it is difficult to judge their winning prospects,” sources said.
A senior YSRC MLA, who has apparently been told by Jagan that he won’t be getting the ticket this time, was terribly upset with the decision, as there was no rationale behind the decision.
“A group of people, including those working in the CMO, giving advice to Jagan, are calling the shots in the selection of candidates. They have absolutely no idea of about the ground realities. How can they judge my winnability sitting in the CMO?” he asked.
Another MLA, unlikely to get the ticket, has found fault with the I-PAC teams for making recommendations without proper groundwork.
“They have their own selfish interests. Who are they to decide the fate of the candidates? We have been among the people for several decades and these youngsters are deciding our political future,” he fumed.
Some regional coordinators are said to be making big money from the ticket aspirants and recommending their names to the party president.
“They are of the view that if these candidates win the elections, they can claim credit. If they lose, the blame can be thrown on Jagan’s administration,” sources said.
