lok-sabha-elections

Updated: May 13, 2019 22:41 IST

Supremely confident of wresting power from the Telugu Desam Party in Andhra Pradesh, YSR Congress party president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy has decided to shift from Hyderabad to Amaravati, the new capital region, two days ahead of the declaration of results on May 23.

The assembly elections in the state were held on April 11.

The YSRC chief has constructed a massive residence-cum-office complex in an acre of land at Tadepalli which is part of Amaravati capital region. He performed house-warming ceremony of the complex on February 27 with a lot of fanfare.

A party leader familiar with the development said Jagan would shift to the new building at Tadepalli on May 21. “If he becomes the chief minister of the state, he would convert into the official residence,” he said.

The YSRC has so far been operating from its central office located at Lotus Pond in Banjara Hills in Hyderabad, the office-cum-residence of Jagan. Though the entire political activity of the party had been in Andhra Pradesh, he continued to stay in Hyderabad.

Except for an interim party office at Vijayawada, majority of the party activities, including strategy meetings, central committee meetings and major press conferences were being held only in Hyderabad.

“Now, it is time for the party headquarters to be shifted to Amaravati completely. By all means, the YSRC is going to come to power and form the government after May 23, when the results will be declared. So, Amaravati is going to be our area of operation,” senior party leader N Ramkumar Reddy said.

The party has already started moving all the furniture, computers and other party material from Lotus Pond to Tadepalli. “The entire process would be completed in two or three days. Hereafter, there will be no party activity in Hyderabad,” the YSRC leader said.

Jagan has called for a meeting of all the party candidates who contested the assembly and Lok Sabha elections, besides other senior party functionaries on May 16 to discuss the strategies to be adopted on the counting day. “A training will be provided to all the counting agents of the party on the precautions to be taken during the counting of votes recorded by EVMs and also the VVPAT machines,” a party leader said.

Telugu Desam Party president and present chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu has been staying in a rented bungalow on the banks of Krishna river at Vundavalli for the last five years. He does not own a permanent residence in Amaravati. He, however, has a huge bungalow at Jubilee Hills in Hyderabad.

Jagan’s optimism has been infectious among YSRC cadre. Last month, some overenthusiastic fans of seemed to have taken the party’s victory for granted in the Andhra Pradesh assembly polls and even got a name plate made that read: Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, Honorable Chief Minister.