It is difficult for any chief minister to concentrate on both the government and his party simultaneously.
Both are very important for him, as he has to run the administration while getting feedback from the people from time to time on the functioning of the government so that he can make changes accordingly.
That is precisely why the chief minister has to depend on his advisors and administration team to get feedback from the people and also on the functioning of his party MLAs and leaders at the grassroots level.
For that, the chief minister has to appoint the right set of people who can give genuine feedback from the party as well as the public. More often than not, there is a chance of these advisors and other people around him misleading him, only to keep him in good humor.
That is exactly what appears to be happening in the case of YSR Congress party president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy.
He is surrounded by a set of officials and advisors who have no connection with the people. They depend on secondary sources for information and pass it on to the chief minister during the daily briefings, which are most often far from the ground realities.
Even if they get the right information, they are not presenting the factual situation before Jagan, thereby creating a feel-good impression to the chief minister.
“Because of these people, Jagan appears to be under the feeling that all is well at the field level and the people are extremely happy with his welfare schemes. That is why he is of the view that it is not difficult to get 175 out of 175 seats in the next elections,” a party leader said.
According to him, Jagan should obtain regular feedback not from these advisors or officials or even the I-PAC team members, who try only to please him with positive feedback, but from the party leaders who can give him the factual information from the field, even if it is negative.
“Only then will he be able to make course corrections and take steps to strengthen the party and the government,” the leader said.
