Jagan to field young turk Bharat in Kuppam, use Chiranjeevi in Mangalagiri against Naidu-Lokesh

However, YSRCP candidate, Dr. Krishna Chandramouli, a retired senior bureaucrat, falling seriously ill a month before polling day in 2019 upset their calculations in Kuppam.

A 1990 batch IAS officer, Dr Chandramouli, who had voluntarily retired from the civil services, had taken the plunge into politics and joined the YSRCP just before the 2014 Assembly elections. He contested twice from Kuppam against Naidu, in 2014 and 2019.

The son rises

After Chandramouli’s death, his son, 30-year-old Bharath, who has a post-graduate degree in rural development, has been staying put in Kuppam and nursing the constituency.

YSRCP MLC KRJ Bharath in Kuppam (Supplied)

And his efforts have already borne fruit. His contribution to the YSRCP’s big win in panchayat polls in Kuppam was not insignificant. And he has clearly impressed the YSRCP brass, for Bharath was soon enough made an MLC.

In a recent interaction with party cadres from Kuppam, Jagan Mohan went so far as to assure a Cabinet berth to Bharath if he was elected MLA in 2024.

“Chandrababu Naidu has been fomenting trouble each time he visits Kuppam. It is a sign that Naidu is desperate to win Kuppam. He also wants to trigger a fear psychosis among our party workers. But his tactics won’t work,” a confident Bharath told South First.

“Our party cadres are determined to give a befitting reply to Naidu by defeating him. Sensing that he is losing ground after the panchayat polls, Naidu has been trying to create a ruckus and intimidate our cadres. Until now the outside world didn’t know what was happening here. This is how he has been winning Kuppam, using intimidatory tactics.”

Mangalagiri opinion leaders switch sides

As part of the action plan to embarrass Nara Lokesh, Jagan has been engineering defections by grassroots workers as well as opinion leaders of Mangalagiri, especially from the weavers’ community, which has a large presence in the Assembly segment.

TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh. (Supplied)

Several leaders from the community such as Murugudu Hanumantha Rao and Kandru Kamala had already joined YSRCP in the past, with the former also being made an MLC, mjuch to the surprise of the local TDP workers.

In 2019, Lokesh had lost to YSRCP’s sitting MLA Alla Ramakrishna Reddy.

But one of the strongest leaders of the weavers’ community is Ganji Chiranjeevi — long seen as one of the pillars of the TDP in Mangalagiri and the party in-charge of the constituency — deserted Chandrababu Naidu and walked into YSRCP’s embrace on August 30.

With his defection, Jagan Mohan had delivered a body blow to Nara Lokesh.

Chiranjeevi had contested the 2014 polls against YSRCP’s Ramakrishna Reddy in Mangalagiri, and lost by just 12 votes.

He was clearly expecting to get the ticket yet again in 2019, but had to step aside when the scion of the TDP Lokesh chose the constituency to make his debut in politics.

Ganji Chiranjeevi joined YSRCP in the presence of YSRCP supremo YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. (Supplied)

Lokesh, who lost in Mangalagiri by just 5,000-odd, will now be hard pressed to repeat even this performance with Gaji Chiranjeevi having crossed over to the rival party.

With Ramakrishna Reddy now considered to be on a weak wicket, with some even saying he could lose, it is learnt that Jagan Mohan will either field Chiranjeevi from Mangalagiri and shift Ramakrishna Reddy to another segment, or ask Chiranjeevi to ensure Ramakrishna Reddy’s win.

In 2019, when Lokesh was pitted against Ramakrishna Reddy, there was also in the fray a Jana Sena-Left candidate — Muppala Nageswara Rao of the CPI. Lokesh lost by a margin of over 5,200 votes. Nageswara Rao secured over 10,000 votes.

But with reports emerging that actor-politician Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena and the TDP will either announce an electoral pact before the 2024 polls or opt for “friendly fights”, Jagan Mohan doesn’t want to take any chances.