YSR Congress Party’s song “Ravali Jagan, Kavali Jagan” has crossed the 10 million views mark on YouTube and has now become the most watched political campaign song on the video-sharing platform since its release on March 08, the party said on Sunday.
Ravali Jagan, Kavali Jagan which can be translated to ‘We want Jagan, Jagan should come’ is a slogan coined by the Indian-Political Action Committee in 2018. The IPAC is run by none other than Nitish Kumar’s trusted aide and JD(U) leader Prashant Kishor. The YSRCP earlier ran a month-long outreach programme under the same banner to underline YSRCP chief Jagan Mohan Reddy’s poll promises.
“The song captures the mood of the people of Andhra Pradesh who are fed up by the false promises of the current dispensation. They have no trust in TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu and his government, and have made up their mind to bring Jagan Mohan Reddy and YSRCP in power in the upcoming election,” the statement released by the party said.
Watch Ravali Jagan, Kavali Jagan song here
The popularity of the song underlines not just the popularity of Jagan’s campaign but also his significance in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and the Assembly elections in the state. The Assembly elections are due to begin on April 11 simultaneously with the 2019 Lok sabha elections for 175 Assembly and 25 Lok Sabha seats.
Reddy, a traditional rival of the current Andhra Pradesh CM and TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu, is steadily following the footsteps of his father, the late Rajasekhara Reddy, former Andhra CM. Like his father, Jagan Mohan started his campaign Praja Sankalpa Yatra in the state in November 2017. The YSRCP chief completed his 3,648-km “padayatra” covering 130 assembly constituencies during a 341-day walking tour on 9 January, 2019, the party claimed, adding that it was the longest padyatra undertaken by any political leader so far.
YSR, as his father was popularly known, also took similar methods to connect with the masses and was successful at it. In 2003, YSR had undertaken a padyatra to counter Chandrababu Naidu and went on to become the Chief Minister. Naidu has also taken similar measures to connect with voters.
In fact, YSR’s Yatras became his signature after he undertook three-month-long padyaatra of 1475 km in 2003 during the scorching summer and then again in 2009, the same year he died in the helicopter crash. He had defeated TDP chief Naidu in 2004.
Naidu has been criticized for being unable to negotiate Special Category Status (SCS) for his state and witnessing the bifurcation of Telangana. Naidu who exited the NDA over the special status issue is facing a three-pronged contest. However, the Congress contesting all seats is expected to help Naidu’s TDP by dividing the votes which would have gone to the YSR Congress.
In 2014 after Andhra Pradesh was bifurcated from Telangana, the Congress-led UPA had promised special status for the former, seeing the state would lose significant revenue with Hyderabad moving to Telangana. The status has been a contentious issue between the Centre and state leaders since the last few years.
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On the other hand, the YSRCP claims Reddy’s stature has risen with Naidu’s missteps with KCR, NDA and the Congress. Even opinion polls point out that Reddy could be the force to reckon with in Andhra Pradesh this time around. Analysts expect Reddy to pocket anywhere between 20-25 Lok Sabha seats, a number which could be crucial for government formation if the Narendra Modi-led BJP falls short of majority. In an interview to India Today recently, Jagan Mohan made it clear that he will side with anyone who signs on the grant of special status to Andhra Pradesh.
In the 2014 assmebly elections, the YSR Congress Party bagged 67 of the 175 seats. Jagan founded the YSRCP in March 2011 after a fallout with the ruling Congress at that time. During the launch of the song, the party had said that it wants to make sure that the Ravali Jagan, Kavali Jagan song reaches out to maximum people at the grass-root level. While the popularity of the campaign is visible on YouTube, May 23 will reveal whether it translates into votes for Jagan Mohan Reddy.
