Utter confusion is prevailing on the date of Tirupati bypoll. All this was because of Vijay Say Reddy’s last statement that the local polls would be held only after March by which time Tirupati poll would be completed. But latest reports say that the YCP is not ready for the Tirupati poll also as long as Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar is there as the State Election Commissioner. It is obviously to avoid any sort of influence of Ramesh Kumar on the byelection.

Every citizen of AP knows that CM Jagan is unwilling to allow Ramesh Kumar to carry out any election under his supervision. Only two months are remaining for Ramesh to retire.

However, the deadline for holding Tirupati bypoll is fast approaching. Ex Tirupati MP late Balli Durgaprasada Rao passed away on September 16, 2020. As per the Representation of People Act 1951, the byelection should be held within six months of the occurrence of the vacancy. As such, the Tirupati bypoll should be held before March 16, 2021. By this time, the six months period will expire.

If the election is to be delayed further, the Election Commission of India would have to decide this in consultation with the Government of India. Ultimately, the final decision will depend on the BJP and CM Jagan on holding the Tirupati bypoll because their feedback will be apparently considered at the Central level.

Krishna basin has been a rich source of water for agriculture in all the regions of Andhra Pradesh. From Srisailam dam, water is supplied to remote areas in Rayalaseema as well. AP Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy himself has made repeated promises to Rayalaseema to supply more water from Srisailam through a lift project. Such is the significance of the Krishna river and its basin.

But, all of a sudden, the Jagan regime has decided to set up the office of the Krishna Water Management Board at a place far away from the Krishna basin. Ironically, the YCP decided to take this office beyond the Godavarai basin to Visakhapatnam port city. As usual, this decision was also taken unilaterally.

Now, the situation came back to the beginning. The Telangana irrigation department had put up a strong objection to the shifting of the Krishna Board office to Vizag. The neighbouring asked how this office could be located in a place which was in no way connected to the Krishna basin. The Telangana Engineer in Chief wrote a letter to the Board Chairman. He also objected to the manner in which the office shifting decision was taken without discussing the same at the Apex Council.

Once again, questions were asked whether the Krishna Board office was also being shifted to Vizag because of caste reasons. It is well known how Capital is being shifted.

The YCP Government has initiated some damage control measures on the issue of temple attacks. The culprits behind the desecrations were not yet caught. There has been rising criticising from all sides. Even the BJP is taking up agitations. As a fitting antidote to all this, the Jagan regime has decided to please the temple priests. It has announced that the salary of the ‘archakas’ of temples will be increased from Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 10,000.

The new hike will be applicable for priests working in all the non-revenue earning temples. There are quite a good number of them. The Jagan rule is also assuring the archakas and their associations that in future, the YCP will also confer hereditary rights for them.

Jagan Reddy’s new sops to ‘priests’ came amid rising allegations that the YCP was totally adopting a pro-Christian and pro-pastors approach. This feeling is growing among the majority Hindu populations. Sensing this mood only, Chandrababu Naidu has begun openly accusing the YCP of favouring pastors and using them for conversions.

Analysts say that the YCP has no choice but to woo some sections of the Hindu voters in order to retain its power. It would be impossible to win elections if the majority Hindus are totally estranged. There is also the threat of the polarisation of the Hindu voters only to defeat the Jagan regime.

Suddenly, religious feelings and sentiments started dominating AP political scene. Discussions at tea stalls, in homes and offices are not complete without a mention of temple attacks and religious links of different parties. This is particularly so after the Ramatheertham incident.

The YCP social media has started campaigning to project Chandrababu Naidu as an enemy of the pastors and the Christians as a whole. It has circulated videos almost to brand the TDP as a Hindutva party. This has triggered speculation whether CM Jagan Reddy is committing a strategic mistake or taking a calculated risk by attributing religious motives to Chandrababu. Analysts say that the YCP has everything to lose by doing religious polarisation at this juncture rather than the TDP.

Even in 2019, the YCP was branded as a Christian party. The voters had seen how the Jagan Reddy family openly campaigned with the Bible by their side. The pastors had then given all out support. At that time, even most sections of the majority Hindus supported Jagan Reddy. It was because they were divided along caste and regional lines.

Moreover, the Reddy caste wholeheartedly supported Jagan in 2019. Things are taking a different turn now. Even some sections among the Reddys are not so happy with the Jagan style of administration. The same is the case with the majority Hindus who are greatly agitated about the temple attacks. In the coming elections, the YCP would undoubtedly have to retain support from some Hindu sections to continue its hold.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy has stood in 3rd place among the best performing CMs in the country. He is next only to Odisha CM Navin Patnaik who got first place and Aravind Kejriwal, who got second place. The ABP News and C-Voter carried out the survey and announced the results.

The survey was done under the name ‘Desh ka Mood’ (Mood of the Nation) by the ABP News and C-Voter. Three Chief Ministers of the Bharatiya Janata Party came up in the top 10 places but there was no name of Telangana CM K Chandrasekhara Rao.

Surprisingly, KCR figured in the fourth position from bottom. Even Tamil Nadu CM Palani Swamy was one step ahead of KCR as he stood in the fifth position from bottom.

The survey asked the respondents about how they feel about the performance of the respective CMs and also about how PM Modi has led the nation during the Coronavirus epidemic. About 66 percent of the respondents were stated to have expressed happiness about the PM’s leadership. This comes at a time when most leaders of the world countries were also facing adverse public opinion in the wake of the virus threat.

More surprisingly, 91 percent respondents in Orissa were stated to have expressed happiness about the Central Government’s welfare programmes. This was despite the fact that Navin Patnaik emerged as the best CM once against at the national level survey.