“YS Jagan behaves like a monarch. He is a dictator and everyone has to toe his line. That is why we came out of the YSRCP,” said many politicians in the past.
Their statements may or may not be true. But the general perception in the public is more or less similar, that Jagan is an uncompromising person, a trait which can prove to be a handicap in politics.
But the recent unconditional apology tendered by Jagan along with his Party MLA’s to the Speaker of the Assembly has presented a different dimension of the YSRCP leader.
A year or couple of years ago, any kind of apology on any sort of issue from Jagan would probably have been unthinkable. But today, when there was a strong possibility of nine of his Party MLA’s being suspended for at least a year from the Assembly, Jagan choose to go in for a compromise by tendering an apology and thereby preventing their suspension.
It is this approach on Jagan’s part which indicates that Jagan may be maturing as a leader, that he is not fixated or opinionated anymore, but flexible enough to climb a step down in the larger interests of his Party and political future.
One Telugu Desam MLA is said to be particularly angry with the YSRCP MLA's being let off the hook. "That Jagan is a clever fellow. first, he gets his MLA's to abuse the TDP and the Speaker fully to their heart's content, in the Assembly. Then he gets them all to apologize and prevents their suspension. They (YSRCP MLA's) should have been suspended!", he fumed.
