Kuppam walls dressed up with slogans: ‘Why not 175/175’ - ‘First Target Kuppam’

TIRUPATI: The rank and file of the ruling YSR Congress are in an upbeat mood as Chief Minister Jagan Reddy is visiting the Kuppam assembly constituency on Friday, for the first time as chief minister.

The CM would launch the third phase of the YSR Cheyutha scheme and lay the foundation stones for development works at a total cost of Rs 66 crore in Kuppam.

Dressing up the tri-state junction town for the chief minister’s visit, YSRC cadres are writing slogans and drawing portraits of Jagan and other senior party leaders on the town’s walls. Walls in the thoroughfares were decked with slogans like  'Why not 175/175?' and 'First Target Kuppam’.

Over the past few months, Jagan has been aggressively motivating his party leaders to ensure the party would win all the 175 assembly seats in the 2024 polls. He was also reiterating that ‘Mission 175’ should begin from Kuppam, won by Chandrababu Naidu seven consecutive times over the past three decades.

Against this backdrop, choosing the Kuppam segment to disburse aid under YSR Cheyutha assumes larger significance. Political analysts are viewing the CM’s visit as part of his strategy to strengthen the feeling among the masses that the victory of Chandrababu Naidu in the 2024 general elections would be next to impossible.

While the senior leaders were on an overdrive and they managed to defect several TD leaders into the YSRC fold in recent polls, the YSRC won both the urban and rural local bodies in the segment. The TD leaders are not enthused, though, at the frenzy of the YSRC now.

The Opposition leaders are describing Jagan’s visit as a ‘damage control’ exercise as Naidu’s last visit to Kuppam was marked by unrest and the YSRC and TD cadres had clashed.

“They can dream about taking Kuppam from Naidu. But highlighting the 175/175 plan that the CM unveiled in an MLAs' meeting some time ago means the ruling party is going overboard here. They should know the image of the YSRC has already taken a beating after Naidu exposed the mining mafia and the discrimination in development works in the segment. People have lost their confidence in the government after the violence during Naidu’s recent visit. No matter what, they will never win Naidu’s own home turf,” a senior TDP leader said.

Meanwhile, the ban imposed on the use of vinyl banners appeared to be emerging as an issue. Though the ruling party leaders are carefully going for alternatives like drawing of portraits, writing of slogans on walls and setting up arches, using cloth banners etc, the Opposition is looking for an opportunity to counter the ruling party in case of any election rule violation.