Has former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy decided to sideline Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan politically? That seems to be the case.
Recently, Jagan declared a political war on the Chandrababu Naidu-led government, urging his cadre to expose the ruling coalition’s failure to fulfill pre-election promises and highlight the resulting loss to each household.
While the ruling coalition includes both Jana Sena and BJP, Jagan appears to be targeting only Chandrababu Naidu, notably sparing Pawan Kalyan.
The BJP had already distanced itself from Naidu’s manifesto during the election campaign, so Jagan may have excluded them for that reason.
However, both Chandrababu and Pawan prominently featured on the manifesto and jointly took responsibility for fulfilling the promises.
Jagan’s decision to overlook Pawan in this new offensive is surprising. His focus remains solely on Chandrababu’s "deception" as he directs party leaders to take only Naidu’s promises to the people.
This appears to be a calculated move. In the past, Jagan aggressively targeted Pawan Kalyan more than Naidu and reportedly paid a political price.
It seems he has learned from that mistake and is now carefully avoiding giving Pawan the spotlight.
Interestingly, even in countering negative campaigns, it’s mainly the TDP attacking Jagan, while leaders and workers of BJP and Jana Sena remain mostly passive. This may also be influencing Jagan’s cautious approach towards Pawan.
Although the alliance includes three parties, Jagan’s strategy seems focused on isolating and taking on only the TDP.
Time will tell whether this selective attack proves beneficial for the YSRCP.
