YSR Congress party president and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy appears to have decided to advance his pre-election campaign, despite the fact that the assembly elections in the state are still three years away.
According to party sources, Jagan is preparing the ground work to unleash the campaign against the Chandrababu Naidu-led coalition government, as he believes public dissatisfaction is rising fast.
Initially, Jagan had planned to launch a major padayatra roughly a year before the next election. However, with changing political dynamics and evolving organisational needs, there is now internal discussion on advancing that schedule.
As part of this strategy, Jagan is expected to begin district-level tours from July this year. Party leaders are reportedly working on a detailed schedule to hold successive meetings with cadre in every parliamentary constituency.
Alongside cadre interactions, the party is also considering region-wise outreach programmes with different social and community groups in an effort to reconnect with voters at the grassroots level.
Sources indicate that Jagan may launch Padayatra 2.0 well ahead of the originally planned schedule, suggesting a more aggressive political build-up than previously anticipated.
According to internal discussions within YSRCP, Jagan is likely to formally begin his new padayatra from July 2027.
The march is expected to continue for nearly one-and-a-half years, positioning it as a central political mobilisation exercise leading into the 2029 elections.
The former chief minister has reportedly conveyed that he intends to spend that extended period travelling through constituencies and remaining directly among the people.
Party insiders say he sees the padayatra as both a political revival tool and a mechanism for sustained public engagement.
Jagan has already hinted in recent remarks that once the padayatra begins, it would put the ruling dispensation under constant pressure.
In his own political framing, he has suggested that Chandrababu Naidu would be forced to face relentless political scrutiny “every day” once the campaign gets underway.
In parallel, the party is also planning to hold a major YSRCP plenary session between Vijayawada and Guntur, a politically significant zone in the ongoing capital debate, in the wake of Jagan’s push for MAVIGUN as the state capital.
Party leaders say an official announcement on the plenary, district tours and padayatra schedule is likely to be made as early as next week.
