Before Nov 6, 2017, Andhra Pradesh opposition leader Y S Jaganmohan Reddy was searched online mostly for corruption and his palatial house in Bengaluru, but his padayatra through AP seems to have changed the scenario.
According to Google Trends, Jagan is now searched mostly for the padayatra, which he launched from his father YS Rajashekara Reddy’s tomb in Idupulapaya in Kadapa.
Of the 25 most asked queries in the Google Trends ‘Rising’ searches regarding Jagan, 22 are related to the ‘Praja Sankalpa Yatra’, three are on his role in the Paradise Papers scam and the rest about his daughters and his association with political strategist Prashant Kishor.
Interestingly, in the past 12 months, more people searched for Jagan than AP chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu.
However, as a political party, Telugu Desam is the most searched, followed closely by Jana Sena Party and the YSR Congress.
The TDP is also alleging that Jagan’s party has artificially boosted his online presence even as the padayatra has no impact on the ground.
The padayatra reached the 67th day on Sunday and reached the 900km mark in Srikalahasti constituency in Chittoor district. Party members said Jagan has been diagnosed with fever.
Interestingly, Pawan Kalyan has pipped both Jagan and Naidu in Google searches. But people seem to be searching more about his films than his political activity.
Google Trend Rising queries reveal that people search about Naidu’s new house, his age and phone number, while for Pawan it’s about films such as Agnyatavasi and Katamarayudu.
The controversy regarding the spat between Pawan’s fans and film critic Kathi Mahesh is also piquing interest of netizens.
