Jagan's long march
He has been waiting a decade for this. After his father, then Congress chief minister of united Andhra Pradesh Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy (YSR), was killed in a helicopter crash on September 2, 2009, Jaganmohan had laid claim to being his successor. He and his family even refused to vacate the official residence for three months as a tug of war played out in the party.
But then Congress president Sonia Gandhi refused him, even denied Jagan, as the people call him, the state party chief's post, which some in the party had suggested as a compromise. Finally, he called it quits and floated the Yuvajana Shramika Rythu Congress (YSRC) party. Now, 10 years later, the story has come full circlethe Congress party has almost been wiped out in Andhra Pradesh, and Jagan is in the hot seat.
In getting here, Jagan banked heavily on the saturation coverage strategy practised by YSR when he was chief minister (2004-2009). In reaching out to less privileged families all over
