YS Jagan has a good following among the poor sections of society and the rich. But the middle-class which constitutes an important voting block and is essentially comprised of Brahmins, Vaishyas and other respected communities is not impressed by YS Jagan.
This is significant because traditionally, the Brahmins and Vaishyas have always been Congressmen. Also, the Reddy community including the late YSR, have always given the Brahmins and Vaishyas, due respect.
Having said that, by and large, they have been staying away from YS Jagan, even though they are favorably disposed towards him.
The reason is the middle class people crave order and stability above everything else. They are not in favour of statements which might ferment unrest or disorder in society.
Jagan’s statements like ‘shoot Naidu in public’ etc do not go down well with them even though they may not approve of the TDP. Added to this is the media bias heavily in favour of the TDP.
ABN and Eenadu carry stories projecting YS Jagan as a factionist and his statements only help those dailies reinforce this image. Next is the corruption angle.
The middle-class by and large consists off salaried people who dream of a corrupt-free environment. Here again YS Jagan is at a disadvantage because of the yellow propaganda whereas in reality, Chandrababu and his men have siphoned off enough money in the name of Amaravathi and Polavaram that would give even Bill Gates an inferiority complex.
Somehow, Jagan has to break free of this noose thrust on him by CBN, Ramoji Rao and Vemuri Radhakrishna.
The third aspect is job creation. YS Jagan is at the forefront in responding to any issues of farmers. But Andhra Pradesh is a State where there is at least one person from each family, based in the US, primarily the middle-classes. These people dream of the yuppie lifestyle: IT jobs, pubs, fancy cars. shopping malls etc, a life that guarantees upward mobility.
If 20000 acres is grabbed from farmers for an IT park, they don’t really mind! For them, the language that appeals to them is the language of development. Chandrababu speaks this language. His international trips, his frequent reference to Hyderabad etc, all burnish this image irrespective of whether he is actually doing anything now for the people.
On the other hand, when was the last time that YS Jagan spoke anything about IT or engineering or such a thing or attended a seminar on such things? How then can he expect to make inroads into the hearts of this section?
Striking a balance between the aspirations of the middle classes and farmers is a tightrope walk and Jagan has to figure out a way to do this.
