Behind the News is your round up of musings from the corridors of power. Betrayal would’ve been the more appropriate term, but “backstabbing” seems to have a certain nostalgic, poetic flair that the YSRCP simply can’t resist.
Published Jun 05, 2025 | 9:30 AM ⚊ Updated Jun 05, 2025 | 9:30 AM
N Chandrababu Naidu and YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. (X)
Synopsis: The YSRCP had called for a state-wide observance of what they solemnly dubbed the Day of Backstabbing. Why? It was on this day in 2024 that the TDP-led NDA took power, ushering out the YSRCP.
On Wednesday, 4 June, every road in every town of Andhra Pradesh seemed to have one thing in common — traffic jams with a cause. The YSRCP leaders had called for a state-wide observance of what they solemnly (and somewhat dramatically) dubbed the Day of Backstabbing. Why? It was on this day in 2024 that the TDP-led NDA took power, ushering out the YSRCP.
Naturally, tempers flared. Scuffles broke out between YSRCP workers and police in several places. In Guntur, things got theatrical. Former minister Ambati Rambabu and a local inspector had what could only be described as a high-decibel verbal wrestling match.
Ambati dared the inspector to stop him from entering the collectorate. The inspector asked him to try entering and see what would happen. After much shouting and dramatic finger-pointing, both men stormed off in opposite directions, achieving precisely nothing.
Oscar nominations are pending. YSRCP chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy may have enjoyed the slapstick comedy while watching it on TV. From where no one knows. He did not take part in any of the protests in any town.
Now, let’s talk about the curious branding — “backstabbing day”. Who exactly stabbed whom, and where is the back in question? The people voted the YSRCP out and elected the TDP-led NDA in the last election.
So does that mean the people stabbed the YSRCP in the back? “No, no!” says the YSRCP indignantly. It is TDP that backstabbed the people by not keeping its promises to them.
Betrayal would’ve been the more appropriate term, but “backstabbing” seems to have a certain nostalgic, poetic flair that the YSRCP simply can’t resist.
There’s some political folklore behind this word. The YSRCP was born out of the seething rage against the Congress for not allowing Jagan Mohan Reddy to step into his late father YS Rajasekhar Reddy’s shoes.
In March 2011, he formed his YSRCP, and a few months later, he was arrested by the CBI in a disproportionate assets case. Jagan swore revenge not only on the Congress, but also the TDP, which had also filed petitions in the High Court demanding a CBI probe into his assets in 2011.
It all began with Congress minister P Shankar Rao filing a petition in the Andhra Pradesh High Court. Not to be left out, TDP’s late K Yerran Naidu and others followed suit.
The high court, obliging all sides, ordered a CBI probe that same year. Then came 2014. The state was split, and the Congress evaporated into thin air in Andhra Pradesh. However, the TDP rose to power. Jagan Mohan Reddy, then in the opposition, fought a tough battle — winning only 67 out of 175 seats while the TDP bagged 102 and walked away with the cake.
In those years, Jagan Mohan Reddy would unfailingly bring up how Chandrababu Naidu had “back-stabbed” his father-in-law, NT Rama Rao, in 1995 and grabbed the chief minister’s chair to tarnish his image.
The word stuck. Though Congress first used it after Naidu pulled the rug from under the feet of NTR, Jagan made it his party’s official catchphrase after the bifurcation of the state.
So much so that “backstabbing” and Chandrababu Naidu are now paired together in Andhra’s political vocabulary like chai and samosa. And that’s how we got to Backstabbing Day — a day of street protests, shouting matches, and confusing metaphors, all in the spirit of democratic dissent.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil.)
