YSR Congress party president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy has an upper hand over his political rivals in terms of gaining the confidence of people in East and West Godavari districts, which account for maximum number of assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh.
These two districts, accounting for 34 assembly constituencies – 19 in East Godavari and 15 in West Godavari, decide the fate of any political party in the elections.
The party which gets maximum number of seats in these two districts will definitely come to power.
In 2014 assembly elections, the TDP had won 27 out of 34 constituencies in these two districts, besides two BJP MLAs who won with the TDP support.
The YSRC won five seats in East Godavari and drew a blank in West Godavari. Even among the five YSRC MLAs in East Godavari, two of them – Varupula Subba Rao and Jyothula Nehru, defected to the TDP later.
This time, however, the situation has drastically changed. Independent enquiries in these districts have revealed that YSRC chief Y S Jaganmohan Reddy has a clear edge in these two districts, particularly in East Godavari district.
There is a negative talk everywhere, especially among the youth and womenfolk, for Telugu Desam Party president and chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu and it is unlikely that the TDP will retain its supremacy this time.
However, Jana Sena Party chief Pawan Kalyan has emerged equally popular among the people like Jagan.
There is a massive fan following for Pawan and if he contests independently, he might definitely win a good number of seats in East and West Godavari districts.
Yet, Jagan has a clear edge over Pawan and Naidu.
“In many constituencies, Naidu will be a poor third and Pawan will give a tough fight. But at the most, Jana Sena can win a dozen seats and not more than that,” a political observer in Rajahmundry said.
