After the recent debacle of the YSR Congress party in by-elections to Nandyal assembly seat, followed by Kakinada municipal corporation elections, there was a lot of introspection in the party.
Though YSRC president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy and his other party leaders put up a brave front stating that the TDP had won the elections, especially Nandyal, because of the money power and man power of TDP president N Chandrabau Naidu, the party leaders have also started finding fault with the style of functioning of their boss.
Some leaders made open comments while others felt in their private conversation with media that Jagan should have behaved in a more matured fashion during the election campaign.
Senior YSRC leader and Nellore MP Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy, in an interview to a television channel, said Jagan had no doubt made a lot of efforts in Nandyal to ensure the victory of the party candidate Silpa Mohan Reddy, while the TDP had spent money lavishly to lure voters.
However, just one comment made by Jagan, stating that Naidu should be shot down on the streets or hanged in public had a lot of impact on the voters.
“In fact, Jagan asking Shilpa Chakrapani Reddy to resign from the MLC seat before joining the YSRC was a master stroke. It fetched him a lot political mileage. But his comment that Naidu should be shot dead on the roads or hanged in public was in bad taste. That sent a lot of negative image about Jagan in the people. All the good efforts put by Jagan till then had been erased with just one comment,” he said.
Mekapati said there was a lot of criticism against Jagan for his comments. “When I watched it on the television, I felt that he should not have made such a comment,” he said.
