Jagan's 'inclusive' politics: Tipper lorry driver, coolies get YSRC tickets

VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy as YSRC president followed his line of social engineering in the ticket allocations in every election and continuing the tradition this time too.

Jagan Mohan Reddy selected several commoners without any political background in the 2024 elections. Curiously, this is done at a time when the election contest turned into a crorepati affair.

These commoners had never dreamt about entering politics and contesting elections.

Political parties are generally offering party tickets to wealthy individuals, professionals like doctors and lawyers for a majority segments.

Jagan Mohan Reddy fielded commoners like Nandigam Suresh and Goddeti Madhavi without any political or wealthy background in the 2019 elections. They became MPs of Bapatla and Araku respectively.

Further, he gave tickets to persons from suppressed classes in the 2019 elections. It worked well and helped the YSRC win 151 MLA seats.

This time, Jagan Mohan Reddy is offering tickets to drivers and coolies, which is seen as a revolutionary step.

Commoner and YSRC activist Khaleel Ahmad is working as a goldsmith. He got the party ticket for Nellore city Assembly constituency. An ordinary farmer, Sarnala Tirupati Rao, is a YSRC aspirant for Mylavaram Assembly seat, Eera Lakkapppa is the candidate of Madakasira Assembly seat, lawyer Guduri Umabala is the candidate for Narasapuram LS seat and tipper lorry driver M. Veeranjaneyulu is YSRC candidate for Singanamala Assembly seat.

Veeranjaneyulusays, “I will work tirelessly to win the MLA seat.”

Khaleel is contesting against wealthy Telugu Desam candidate P. Narayana who owns Narayana Educational Institutions. Industrialist Vasantha Krishna Prasad or former minister Devineni Umamheswara Rao will be TD candidate in Maylavaram but Jagan Mohan Reddy fielded ordinary farmer Tirupati Rao in Mylavaram.

Jagan Mohan Reddy selected YSRC activist and lawyer Umabala for the Narasapuram LS seat, which is presently represented by stalwart K. Raghu Rama Krishna Raju.

Eera Lakkappa, a coolie from Madakasira, has been fielded as YSRC’s Assembly candidate. Lakkappa, who was staying in Indiramma's house during Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy's rule, could not believe that he was named as an MLA candidate.

He proudly calls himself a Jagananna representative. "We believe in the welfare and development schemes introduced by CM Jagan Mohan Reddy. People like us get a chance to be sarpanches.”

This trend was evident in the recent local body elections too. Many poor people and even volunteers were elected as sarpanches. Several volunteers got a chance to contest local body elections and were elected as councillors, corporators and Mayor.

For instance, woodcutter S. Amuda was elected as Chittoor Mayor. Sireesha was elected as Tirupati Mayor where her father-in-law worked as an attender in the municipal office. Vegetable vendor Sk Basha became Rayachoti municipal chairman and pushcart vendor Talari Rajkumar was elected as Kalyanadurgam municipal chairman.

YSRC leaders said neither Telugu Desam nor Jana Sena gave tickets to commoners. They offered tickets to those from affluent sections of the society.

In the TD's list of 128 Assembly seats, Naidu gave seats to his community members and wealthy candidates from other communities, YSRC leaders note.

They claimed that the YSRC has allocated half of its seats to the marginalised groups, demonstrating CM Jagan Mohan Reddy's inclusive approach. “By extending opportunities to individuals from diverse backgrounds, he is not only democratizing the political landscape but also fostering a culture of representation that resonates with the common people,” analysts say.