Total recall: Twists and turns in the electrifying campaign

The acerbic campaigning for high stakes simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and State Assembly ended on Tuesday.
Total recall: Twists and turns in the electrifying campaign

The acerbic campaigning for high stakes simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and State Assembly ended on Tuesday. The electioneering had been anything but decent, with leaders of TDP and YSRC often hurling choicest expletives at each other. Entry of Pawan makes the polls more interesting. Elections for all 25 Lok Sabha and 175 Assembly seats will be held at one go on April 11. TNIE takes a look at how the campaign went, the trends and salient features of campaign

Intelligence chief and Chief Secretary shunted out

Controversy surrounded the shunting out of Intelligence chief and two SP rank officers from election duties in the State. Following complaints by Opposition YSRC alleging that DGP RP Thakur, Intelligence chief AB Venkateswara Rao and some other officials were working at the behest of the ruling TDP, the EC removed Venkateswara Rao and SPs of Srikakulam and Kadapa from election duties. High drama ensued with the government initially obliging to the orders but later releasing a GO stating that the Intelligence chief does not come under the purview of the ECI. The State government raised objection and took up the issue with the court also, but it did not get any reprieve. Much before the controversy ended, the ECI removed Chief Secretary Anil Chandra Punetha (for releasing the GO) till the completion of elections and replaced him with LV Subramanyam. 

VVL sets new trend by releasing  manifesto on bond paper

Former CBI joint director VV Lakshminarayana, who quit IPS to join politics, set a trend of sorts by releasing a 15-point manifesto on a bond paper. Lakshminarayana, who had initially planned to float his own party, joined Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena party ahead of the elections and is contesting from Visakhapatnam Lok Sabha seat. He drafted 15-point manifesto for the Parliament constituency on a bond paper to send a signal that he is bound to implement his promises and he is answerable to the voters. He added that he would draft an integrated vision document for Vizag after consulting and seeking suggestions and opinions of all the key stakeholders. The former CBI JD said he would also release progress report every three months on what he did for the constituency. He also said a mobile application will be designed in the name of ‘Reach Your MP’ to engage with the residents of the constituency. 

National leaders lift the  candidiates’ spirits high 
A host of national leaders -- campaigned in the State in support of their own party candidates and their allies. While AICC chief Rahul Gandhi addressed rallies in Vijayawada and Kalyandurg (where N Raghuveera Reddy is contesting), PM Modi campaigned in Rajahmundry and Kurnool. BJP president Amit Shah conducted a road show in Vizag. TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu, on the other hand, brought in leaders such as West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, NC leader Farooq Abdullah and former PM HD Dewe Gowda to campaign for his party. Jana Sena chief Pawan, who aligned with the Left and BSP, brought BSP chief Mayawati to campaign for the alliance candidates in Vijayawada and Tirupati.

Pawan springs a surprise, stitches alliance with BSP
Jana Sena Party founder Pawan Kalyan sprang a surprise by forging an alliance with Bahujan Samaj Party to contest elections in AP and Telangana. Pawan Kalyan, who had tied up with Left parties in the run up to the elections, met Mayawati in Uttar Pradesh and the two leaders made a joint statement about their poll pact which is considered a move to attract votes of Dalits. The BSP was given three Lok Sabha (Bapatla, Chittoor and Tirupati) and 21 Assembly seats. The BSP, surprisingly, is not a major force in AP and the last time it made presence in Telugu states was in 2014 when it won two seats in Telangana. The two elected candidates, had in fact, won on their personal charisma and later switched loyalties to the ruling TRS.

Jagan offered money to Cong to make him CM, claims Farooq
Amid the tu tu mein mein between ruling TDP and Opposition YSRC, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, who campaigned in Muslim-dominant pockets of Rayalaseema in support of the TDP, created a stir by claiming that YSRC chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had offered `1,500 to the Congress high command, if he was made the CM of united AP soon after the death of his father late YS Rajasekhara Reddy in a helicopter crash in 2009. “I wondered as to how he was in possession of such huge money. He might had looted the money,’’ the veteran leader alleged and asked people not to vote for Jagan. Jagan, however, ridiculed the claims and said Naidu is bringing in actors from outside the State to target him.

Sharmila and Vijayamma join Jagan in campaign
Giving the much-needed support to YSRC chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, his mother YS Vijayamma and sister YS Sharmila joined the campaign. The duo had campaigned for the party when Jagan was in prison in the disproportionate assets case and took major responsibility of campaigning before 2014 elections. They also had campaigned and ensured victory of the party’s MP and MLA candidates in bypolls necessitated after the resignation of some Congress MLAs in support of Jagan after the latter snapped ties with the Congress and floated the YSRC. Vijayamma-Sharmila duo toured across the State while Jagan’s wife Bharathi too chipped in with campaigning in some parts of Kadapa district.

outsmarting EACH other with manifesto 
While parties like BJP, Congress and Left released their manifestos for the election much earlier, the TDP and YSRC kept the manifestos pending till the last minute. While elections were scheduled for April 11 and the last day of campaigning was on April 9, they chose not to release the manifesto till April 6. It was said that both the parties wanted the other to release the manifesto first so that they can include schemes/promises to outsmart the other. Ending the suspense, the YSRC released its manifesto on Ugadi day and within hours, Naidu announced his party’s manifesto.

all eyes on Mangalagiri as Lokesh makes debut 
IT Minister and TDP chief’s son Nara Lokesh made electoral debut. Lokesh was nominated as an MLC and was given a berth in his father’s Cabinet. For the past one year, there were reports that Lokesh would contest the elections in 2019. Initially, it was said that he would contest from Mangalagiri in Guntur district and later it was said he might contest from either Bheemili or Gajuwaka in Visakhapatnam district. But the party decided to field the Nara scion from Mangalagiri, inviting everyone’s attention to this Assembly constituency. In fact, the TDP last won from the constituency in 1985. 

Jagan’s health scheme steals the show
YSRC chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, a day before announcing his party’s manifesto, came up with his party’s major poll announcement by declaring that his party will issue Universal Health Cards for free healthcare access to the poor and middle-class, if voted to power. Any individual with an income of up to Rs 5 lakh will benefit from the scheme, if implemented. 

Pawan plays Andhra card to target KCR
Jana Sena Party chief Pawan Kalyan, who had lauded Telangana Chief Minister KCR’s administrative skills some time back in Hyderabad, created a flutter during an election campaign stating that people from Andhra Pradesh are being thrashed in Telangana. Addressing a gathering before filing his nomination papers for Bhimavaram Assembly constituency, Pawan also warned KCR against interference in AP politics. “It is better you refrain from doing proxy politics. If you really want to be part of Andhra politics, better set up your own party here,” Pawan told KCR. 

Naidu-KCR war of words continues
Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and his Telangana counterpart KCR were involved in a high-pitched war of words during the campaigning. While Naidu accused his bete noire of interfering in AP politics using Jagan as a proxy at the behest of BJP-led Centre and opposing SCS to AP, Rao minced no words in hitting back at Naidu during his campaign for his Lok Sabha candidates in Telangana. 

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