Jaganmohan Reddy vows to bounce back after electoral debacle

Hyderabad: While conceding defeat, YSR Congress chief Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy vowed, “In another five years we will bounce back.” He attributed the defeat of his party in Seemandhra to the ‘Modi wave’. “People believed Naidu’s false promises,” he said.

Addressing reporters at his Lotus Pond residence on Friday, Mr Jagan Mohan said, “I accept the people’s verdict. We are going to play a constructive Opposition role. I congratulate Mr Narendra Modi, Mr Chandrababu and KCR for winning the elections.”

The YSRC office was deserted on Friday as the election trends began to show that the Telugu Desam was surging ahead. Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy, his mother Y.S. Vijayalakshmi and other family members watched the results on television at their Lotus Pond residence in the city.

The YSRC was hoping to form the government in the state with at least 100 seats. It ended up with just 67 Assembly seats, the TD having a lead of 100 seats. Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy admitted that the results came as a surprise, but said the party continued to champion the caused of the ordinary people.

“Any issue, be it fee reimbursement, be it weavers’ suicides I am always there. Naidu is seen nowhere fighting for the people’s cause. When we came out of the Congress it was just me and my mother — one MP and one MLA. We went up to 20 MLAs and two MPs. Today, we are almost 10 MPs and 70 MLAs.

“I thank all the people who trusted me and voted for me and my party. Unfortunately, due to the Modi factor we lost. We will recover and we will fight it out. We have no alliance with anyone. Our alliance is with the people,” he said.
When asked about the cases of corruption pending against him. “It was Sonia Gandhi till now. It will be Chandrababu Naidu hereafter,” he replied.

When about the most humiliating defeat for his party — his mother Ms Vijayalakshmi losing from Vishakapatam LS constituency, Mr Jahan Mohan Reddy said, “We saw the Modi wave in North Andhra. So we took some bold decisions. A few misfired,” he said.

Meanwhile, All the candidates from the Jai Samaikyandhra Party (JSP), floated by former Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, have lost in the elections. Except for his brother Kishore Kumar Reddy all others have forfeited their deposits.

Mr Reddy had boasted that he would give up the Chief Minister’s post for the sake of united AP. He had said during his election campaigns that he would try to unite both the states of Telangana and Seemandhra if he was given the mandate. Mr Reddy, who was afraid of contesting again from the Pileir Assembly in Chittoor district, gave an excuse that he did not contest as he had to campaign for his brother.

Taking a cue from Aam Aadmi party’s broom symbol, Mr Reddy chose chappals as the party symbol that was initially heckled by his own partymen. They feared losing the election because of the inauspicious symbol and their fears came true.

Interestingly, Mr Reddy left for Bengaluru immediately after concluding his campaign in Seemandhra and has been keeping away from media glare. He is also not responding to calls from quite some time.

Party Treasurer Bhamidipati Rammurthy, who returned to the capital on Friday night, told Deccan Chronicle, “It is all Narendra Modi’s wave, so we could not win a single seat. However we need to sit and analyse the party debacle soon.”