Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy

 

Member of Parliament
In office 13 May 2011 - present
Preceded by	Y. S. Vivekananda Reddy
Constituency	Kadapa
Born	21 December 1972 (age 38) Pulivendula village of Kadapa District, Andhra Pradesh
Spouse(s)	Y S Bharati
Children	2
Residence	Hyderabad/Bangalore
Religion	Christian (Anglican)

Yeduguri Sandinti Jaganmohan Reddy born December 21, 1972), also calledJagan by his admirers,is an Indian politician and is a member of the Parliament of India from Kadapa constituency. He is the son of the former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ("YSR"). Jaganmohan Reddy received his early education from Pulivendula and Hyderabad Public School .

Personal life and religious beliefs

Reddy founded the daily Telugu language newspaper Sakshi and the television channel Sakshi TV. He is the chief promoter of Bharathi Cements. Reddy is a devout Christian.

Political life

Reddy started his political career by campaigning for Congress party in 2004 elections in Kadapa District, and in the 2009 elections he was elected as member of Parliament from Kadapa constituency as a member of the Indian National Congress.

However, his political career took a new innings with the demise of his father, Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ("YSR"). His relationship with the Indian National Congress (INC) continuously deteriorated after his father's death

Reddy, representing his YSR Congress, contested the 2011 Lok Sabha by-election for Kadapa and won with a majority of 5,45,671 votes, whilst defeating his opponents from the Indian National Congress and Telugu Desam Party.

Odarpu Yatra

Six months after his father's death, Reddy began a Odarpu Yatra (condolence tour) as promised earlier to go and meet the families of those alleged to have either committed suicide or died of shock after hearing the death of his father Y S Rajasekhara Reddy in a chopper crash in the thick Nallamalai forests in Kurnool district on September 2, 2009.The Congress party's central leadership directed Reddy to call off his odarpu yatra which he defied leading to a fallout between the high command and himself and further went ahead with the yatra stating that its personal and has got nothing to do with politics. His Odarpu Yatra established Jagan as a political leader in AP politics. Reddy announced on 7 December 2010 that he would be continuing 'Odarpu Yatra' from 16 December 2010 in Kadapa district itself across all the assembly segments in the district. Later he would be moving on to the rest of the districts.

Criticism of Sonia Gandhi and subsequent resignation

On November 29, 2010, he resigned, after a fallout with the party high command. Reddy announced on 7 December 2010 from Pulivendula that he would be starting a new party within 45 days. In February, 2011, he took over a party which had existed on paper only since the prior July, and was officially recognized on February 16 as president of the YSR Congress Party.

First elections under the new party

Alhough the party contested Member of Legislative Council elections after its birth, the by-election for those seats which were left vacant after resignations of Y. S. Vijayamma and Reddy were held on May 8th 2011, in which the son and mother duo contested on behalf of YSR Congress Party. These were the first major and direct elections for the party. Election Commission of India allotted a ceiling fan as common symbol for YSR Congress contestants in this election. In by-elections Y. S. Vijayamma won the Pulivendula Assembly seat by a record majority of 85,191 votes, highest in that constituency. Reddy won with a record high majority of 545,043 votes; he bettered the 4.2 lakh vote margin registered by his father. Jaganmohan Reddy secured 6.9 lakh votes, more than 65 per cent of the total votes polled. He won with a majority of 5.45 lakh votes over his nearest rival, Health Minister D.L. Ravindra Reddy, who secured 1.46 lakh votes. Telugu Desam Party nominee M.V. Mysoora Reddy came third with 1.29 lakh votes. Both his rivals and 39 independents forfeited their deposits.

In Pulivendula, Vijayamma secured a record 81,373 votes margin, surpassing her husband's 68,681 vote margin in the 2009 elections. She defeated her nearest Congress rival and brother-in-law Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy, who got a little more than 28,000 votes. TDP candidate M. Ravindranath Reddy, with 12,000 votes, remained a distant third. The nominees of these parties and 22 independents could not retain their deposits.

Jaganmohan Reddy's emphatic victory is a huge setback not just to the Congress, but the TDP as well, as both had left no stone unturned to contain him. It is seen as a personal triumph for the 37-year-old leader, who made it “a battle between Congress president Sonia Gandhi and self-respect of the people of Kadapa.” He claimed the verdict was a pointer to the political changes in the offing. Reddy bettered the 4.2 lakh vote margin registered by his father from the same Kadapa seat in 1991. His winning margin was next only to that of the former Prime Minister, P. V. Narasimha Rao, who won with a 5.8 lakh vote margin from Nandyal. 

YSR Photos: