There will be no fanfare, unlike in the past five years, when party leaders competed to organise grand celebrations in an attempt to attract their chief minister’s attention. The morale of the party’s cadres is now at its lowest ebb, following YSRCP’s stunning defeat in the 2024 Legislative Assembly elections.
Published Dec 18, 2024 | 6:53 PM ⚊ Updated Dec 18, 2024 | 6:53 PM
YS Jagan Mohan Reddy (Screengrab)
The birthday celebration of former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and YSRCP supremo YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on 21 December is set to be a subdued affair. There will be no fanfare, unlike in the past five years, when party leaders competed to organise grand celebrations in an attempt to attract their chief minister’s attention.
The morale of the party’s cadres is now at its lowest ebb, following YSRCP’s stunning defeat in the 2024 Legislative Assembly elections and the subsequent change in government. Despite the party reportedly issuing instructions for the occasion to be celebrated as a major event, urging all cadres to participate in the celebrations and asking MLAs and party coordinators to work together in all Assembly segments, the response has been less than enthusiastic.
A YSRCP leader, speaking to South First on condition of anonymity, said: “The party has asked us to organise ‘service programmes’, but it hasn’t specified which ones. The workers are organising blood donation camps on their own. We will also distribute fruits to patients in hospitals and clothes to the poor. That should be enough.”
Party workers are reportedly complaining that they lack the funds to organise the programmes. “The leaders are not giving us any money. The party hasn’t released anything so far, and it may not. We have to spend from our own pockets,” said another leader from Eluru.
The decision of several key leaders to join the TDP and Jana Sena has been a setback to party morale. Former ministers Alla Nani and Avanti Srinivas have joined the TDP and Jana Sena respectively, and a few other leaders, such as former Minister Ambati Rambabu, have even started praising the TDP and Jana Sena, as well as its leader Pawan Kalyan. These developments have reportedly made it difficult for the party to keep the cadres motivated.
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
