YSR Congress Party

YSR Congress Party
Abbreviation YSRCP
Leader Y. S. Jagan
President Y. S. Vijaya Lakshmi
Chairperson
Lok Sabha leader Mekapati Rajamohan
Founder Y. S. Jagan
Founded 12 March 2011 (2011-03-12)
Headquarters Hyderabad, Telangana, India
Colours Blue  
ECI Status State Party[1]
National convener Y. S. Jagan
Seats in Lok Sabha
9 / 545
Seats in Rajya Sabha
1 / 245
Election symbol
Website
www.ysrcongress.com/en/

YSR Congress Party or Yuvajana, Shramika, Rythu Congress Party[2] (lit. Youth, Labour and Farmer Congress Party) is a regional political party in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The party is founded by son of former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy in 2011.[3] Both Y.S.R. and his son Y.S. Jagan had been members of the Indian National Congress.[4] YS Jagan was also elected as the national president of the party.[5]

History

After the unexpected death of YS Rajasekhara Reddy, then the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh in a helicopter crash in September 2009.[6] his son YS Jagan, the incumbent MP from Kadapa, started a never-ending Odarpu Yatra (condolence tour) across Andhra Pradesh, supposedly to console the families of those who had committed suicide or died of shock after the death of his father. This was however not supported by the Congress leadership.[7] Congress President Sonia Gandhi claimed the rising volatile situation in the state regarding the Telangana issue as the main reason for opposing the "Odarpu Yatra". Defying the Congress High Command's order to call off the tour, YS Jagan went ahead with the first leg of the "Odarpu Yatra" in the West Godavari and Khammam districts from in April 2010.[8]

Meanwhile, the YS Jagan -owned Sakshi TV news channel and Sakshi newspaper had been continuously criticizing the new Chief Minister Konijeti Rosaiah and the Congress leadership at New Delhi. In a special programme on Sakshi TV to mark the 125th anniversary celebrations of the Congress party, a voice-over made remarks on Sonia Gandhi and the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the "current state of affairs" in the State, which invited anger and protests from the Congress loyalists and increased the gap and friction between YS Jagan and the Congress loyalists.[9] The channel later deleted those remarks in a re-telecast.

Creation of the new party

After accusing the Congress of ill-treating him and creating rifts in his family by luring his uncle YS Vivekananda (younger brother of YSR) with a state ministerial berth in the aftermath of the death of his father, YS Jagan and his mother Y. S. Vijaya Lakshmi resigned from the Kadapa Lok Sabha and Pulivendula Assembly constituencies respectively and also as members of the Congress in November 2010.[10] [3][11] Many Congress leaders loyal to YS Jagan also quit the Congress and joined the YSR Congress. This resulted in the weakening of the Congress's strength in both the assembly and the Lok Sabha, necessitating by-elections. In the ensuing by-elections, the party won most of the vacated seats with many of the Congress and the Telugu Desam Party (the main opposition) candidates losing their deposits.[12] The party has a strength of 67 members in the 175 -member state assembly and 9 members in the Lok Sabha(out of 42 in AP) as the election results declared on 17 May 2014, simultaneously.[13]

Electoral performance

In March 2012, YSR Congress won the Kovur assembly seat in Nellore district in a by-election.

On 10 30, 2012, YSR Congress won the Nellore Lok Sabha seat and 15 of 18 assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh. YSR Congress leaders P. Subhash Chandra Bose from Ramachandrapuram constituency of East Godavari district and Konda Surekha from Parakala constituency of Warangal district, both ministers in the YSR cabinet, had switched to YSR Congress party but lost their races.[14] The Modi wave across the country impacted the electoral performance of the party in 2014 and lost the elections to its opponent political rival Telugu Desam Party.

Results

Year Election Seats Won Contested
2012 Assembly (By) 15 18
2014 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly 67 175
Year Election Seats Won Contested
2012 Lok Sabha Bypoll 2 2
2014 Lok Sabha General Elections 9 25

Functioning as an opposition party[15]

As the principal opposition party in Andhra Pradesh state, YSRCP has fought on several problems of the people.

Lakshya Deeksha

A collective hunger strike was held at on the banks of River Krishna at Vijayawada with a slogan ‘methuku muttam – madama thippam’ (We shall not touch food; we shall not back down) for 48 hours with one lakh people participating.

Jala Deeksha

Protesting against the tribunal’s verdict on Krishna waters, YSRCP called for Jala Deeksha in New Delhi. Farmers and party leaders travelled by train to the capital city and appealed for solution of water controversies between Telugu states.

Raithu Deeksha

YSR Congress Party staged agitation at Guntur in January-February 2016, demanding the Government to keep the promises it had made to people at the time of elections like waiver of loans to the DWCRA women, the farmers and the handloom workers.

Samara Deeksha

The party held Samara Deeksha at Mangalagiri of Guntur district to bring pressure on the Government to implement welfare schemes for the people. The party condemned the deception of the Government to the people of the state, particularly, the DWCRA women, the farmers and the unemployed in the name of false promises.

YSRCP demanded resignation of TDP leaders from the central cabinet as an act of protest for not sanctioning special status to AP. The party fought at many occasions against the taking away of lands from the farmers of the capital area for the construction of capital city against their will.

Prathyeka hodaa - Andhrula hakku

Special status was promised to AP at the time of bifurcation of the state but was never kept. YSRCP demanded sanction of special status according to the reorganization act. Party president YS Jagan staged a hunger strike at Delhi for this purpose.

Yuva Bheri

A program called Yuva Bheri was conducted at Tirupati and Visakhapatnam in order to raise awareness among the youth and the students about the advantages of special status.

Fight for special status

After the hunger strike in New Delhi, agitations were held in the state demanding special status. At headquarters of all mandals, constituencies and districts, YSRCP held agitations and strikes. YS Jagan staged an indefinite hunger strike at Thullur of Guntur district till he was disturbed by the police after 5 days.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "List of Political Parties and Election Symbols main Notification Dated 18.01.2013" (PDF). India: Election Commission of India. 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  2. ↑ "Why YSR Congress?". 2011. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  3. 1 2 "'YSR Congress'- The Times of India". The Times Of India.
  4. ↑ Rao, A. Srinivasa "YS Jagan acquires YSR Congress Party from worker" ''indiatoday.intoday.in'' 17 February 2011. Indiatoday.intoday.in (2011-02-17). Retrieved on 2011-10-20.
  5. ↑ NATIONAL / ANDHRA PRADESH : YS Jagan is national president of YSR Congress Party. The Hindu (2011-02-22). Retrieved on 2011-10-20.
  6. ↑ "national - News - msn". Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  7. ↑ "Defiant YS Jagan to go ahead with 'Odarpu' yatra - The Times of India". The Times Of India.
  8. ↑ http://zeenews.india.com/election09/story.aspx?aid=640242
  9. ↑ With TV attack on Sonia & PM, YS Jagan signals it’s time to go. Indian Express (2010-11-21). Retrieved on 2011-10-20.
  10. ↑ "Jagan quits Congress, to float `YSR Congress`". 30 November 2010. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  11. ↑ Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : YS Jagan is national president of YSR Congress Party. The Hindu (2011-02-22). Retrieved on 2011-10-20.
  12. ↑ "News / National : YS Jagan quits Congress, Kadapa Lok Sabha seat". The Hindu (2010-11-29). Retrieved on 2011-10-20.
  13. ↑ "Lok Sabha election results 2014: Andhra Pradesh". 17 May 2014. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  14. ↑ "SY Jagan's YSR Congress wins Nellore Lok Sabha, 15 assembly seats". The Times Of India. 15 June 2012.
  15. ↑ "YSR Congress Party - Official Site, YSRCP, YS Jagan, Rajashekar Reddy, Sharmila, Vijayamma". www.ysrcongress.com. Retrieved 2016-06-23.

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