The fall and rise of Jagan Mohan Reddy: From son of a 2-time CM to eyeing CM chair for 2nd time

Back then, little did anyone know that his fight for five more years would ultimately lead to TDP’s rout in 2019, when Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSRCP formed the government in the state with a record 151 seats out of the 175 in the Assembly.

As Jagan turns 51 on Thursday, 21 December, here is a look at his political journey, when he entered politics as son and heir-apparent of YS Rajasekhara Reddy, served as an MP, and is now a formidable political force in Andhra Pradesh, poised to contend for the chair of Chief Minister for the second time.

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The first steps in public life

YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, a BCom graduate from the Pragati Mahavidyalaya in Hyderabad, entered the business world and tested his luck in 1999-2000 by establishing a small power company, Sandur, in neighbouring Karnataka. He later expanded his business to the northeastern states as well.

His business fortunes rose meteorically once his father became the chief minister of the state in 2004. Jagan began venturing into various other industries, including cement plants, infrastructure, and media.

YS Jagan and his family at YSR ghat, Idupulapaya. (Supplied)

Although he campaigned for the Congress — his father’s party — in Kadapa in 2004, he had to wait five more years to enter politics.

It was in 2009 that YS Jagan entered electoral politics by contesting the Lok Sabha elections from Kadapa, with his father campaigning beside him.

Jagan won the elections, while his father retained power for the second time in the state.

Since then, his wife YS Bharathi has been overseeing the businesses while he has remained active in politics.

However, this smooth journey came to a halt when his father died in a chopper crash in September 2009.

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Finding his own way

Aspiring to replace his father as the chief minister, Jagan was halted by senior leaders in the Congress, who favoured four-time MLC and two-time MLA Konijeti Rosaiah. This move was seen as sidelining Jagan from mainstream politics.

Sensing a better future aligned with his father’s legacy, Jagan wanted to embark on the “Odarpu Yatra” (condolence tour), where he would meet all those families who had suffered shock and loss following his father’s sudden demise. Their shared sorrow became the foundation of his support base.

Despite orders from Congress leadership to drop the idea, Jagan continued, leading to a fallout with the national party. Congress insiders have several stories of how Jagan Mohan Reddy was dismissed curtly by senior leaders of the party when he proposed to take his father’s place. That is an experience, it seems, he hasn’t forgotten years down the line.

With a small group of YSR loyalists, Jagan embarked on the yatra, receiving a positive response from the public.

YS Jagan with his mother YS Vijayamma in the Odarpu Yatra. (Supplied)

In November 2010, he and his mother YS Vijayamma resigned as the Kadapa MP and Pulivendula MLA, respectively.

In March 2011, he announced the launch of his new party, named the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party or simply YSR Congress Party.

His party contested by-polls in the Kadapa district, and Reddy, as the YSRCP chief, faced a by-election from the Kadapa constituency, winning by a record margin of 5,45,043 votes.

His mother also won the Pulivendula Assembly constituency by 85,193 votes against YSR’s brother YS Vivekananda Reddy. There was no turning back. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s sister YS Sharmila was credited with managing the cadres, leaders and elections for YSRCP.

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The fall and jail

The celebrations from the sweet victory was short-lived. It seemed like father YS Rajasekhara Reddy’s demise and eventual fallout with Congress diminished Jagan Mohan Reddy’s immunity. Legal challenges came charging at him.

On August 17, 2011, the CBI registered an FIR in response to a high court order dated 10 August, 2011. This legal action came in response to a petition filed by former Andhra Pradesh minister P Shankar Rao.

The petition pertained to alleged illegal assets and illicit investments into his business empire, and led to the registration of cases against him and 74 others under Sections 420 (cheating), 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 477A (falsification of accounts) of the Indian Penal Code, as well as Section 409 (criminal breach of trust) along with the Prevention of Corruption Act.

In essence, Jagan was accused of amassing wealth and assets through illegal means during the tenure of his late father as the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh.

YS Jagan arrested by the CBI in May 2012. (Supplied)

The CBI began questioning Jagan on 25 May, 2012, and arrested him two days later. After nearly 16 months in jail, Jagan walked out on bail in September 2013. His arrest further worsened the already problematic relationship he shared with Congress. His mother, Vijayamma, made no secrets of this having turned personal for the family.

Jagan was released at a time when Andhra Pradesh was experiencing political and social unrest due to the Congress’ decision to yield to demands of a separate Telangana state.

With the Congress favouring bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh and creation of Telangana, Jagan appeared to be strong, backed by YSR’s legacy to Andhra Congress leaders, who saw a future with him.

This led to a mass exodus from the Congress in the state, with many leaders joining the YSRCP and a few aligning with the TDP.

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Jagan’s ‘walk’ to the top post

In the 2014 Assembly elections, Jagan won 67 out of the 175 assembly seats in the Assembly and eight out of 25 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh.

Although the TDP-BJP-Jana Sena alliance formed the government, Jagan’s party secured more than 45 percent of votes compared to the 46.69 percent of the winning combine, indicating the growing influence of Jagan.

But, in a setback from 2016 to 2017, around 23 YSRCP MLAs joined the TDP, and four of them became ministers.

In October 2017, the YSRCP chief decided to boycott the Assembly to protest against the Speaker’s inaction against the MLAs who shifted to the TDP. He promised to return to the Assembly only after winning elections based on public mandate.

Addressing issues like Special Status and promising to bring back the YSR era, Jagan started a padayatra on 6 November, 2017, reminiscent of his father’s efforts to come to power in 2004.

He spent 341 days on the Praja Sankalpa Yatra, covering a distance of 3,648 km through 13 districts on foot across the state, concluding on 10 January, 2019.

He transformed into a youth icon with his revamped image and speeches. Going all out with public engagement, Jagan succeeded in building an image as “our YSR’s son”.

YS Jagan in his Praja Sankalpa yatra (Supplied)

Also, learning from his 2014 experience, Jagan took caution in selecting candidates and engaged political strategist Prashant Kishor for election management.

With a catchy manifesto of poll promises called Navaratnalu (nine jewels) focusing mostly on welfare schemes for the working class, and extensive digital media campaigns with songs and even films like Yatra (biography of his father by popular Malayalam actor Mammootty), Jagan established a strong presence, posing him to come to power.

This wave resulted in a clean sweep in the elections, limiting the TDP to a historically poor performance. The YSRCP won 151 seats out of 174 in the Assembly and 22 Lok Sabha seats out of 25 in the state, securing nearly 50 percent of the total votes.

Pitching to win the elections again, Jagan, confident of repeating the win based on his welfare schemes, is charging the cadre with the slogan “Why not 175?”

Will he win this election for the second time, or will the TDP regain its hold? These questions remain to be seen.