The 2014 elections in Andhra Pradesh was surrounded with many speculations. While some surveys suggested that YSRCP would come into power, other surveys pointed at TDP. It seemed like it could have been anybody’s game. Back then, TDP joined hands with BJP and YSRCP stance was unclear. Cut to the elections result, TDP emerged victorious by sweeping 102 seats out of 175, while YSRCP won 67 seats. Therefore, TDP unanimously formed the government and Chandrababu Naidu was sworn-in as the first Chief Minister of the newly formed Andhra Pradesh state.

People’s faith in CBN has been paid off. In the past five years, he has managed to develop the state despite not receiving any support from the Central Government. Today, at the National level, AP aces in various areas like energy sector, agriculture, ease of doing business, and quality of life. Further, the policies and schemes formulated by the TDP government are well received by the people of the state. Be it the loan waiver, 24X7 electricity, Chandranna bheema, pensions, or pasupu-kumkuma scheme, all of them have tremendously benefited the people. Thus, the people of AP are happy with CBN’s governance and they do not have any reason to pick anybody else over him as their next CM. CBN has truly served the people to the best of his abilities and once again proved that he is synonymous with development.

In the last five years, Jagan has toured the state in the name of ‘padayatra.’ He walked over 3,500 kms and interacted with people from different parts of the state. However, because of his padayatra, Jagan barely attended the assembly. As a leader of the opposition, he could have questioned and critiqued the government policies in the assembly rather than calling out on them through the media. Also, he should have united with TDP in the fight for a special category status. When he claims it to be his top most priority, he could have left his differences and jointly fought for the common cause. In fact, a joint fight would have put much more pressure on the Central Government. So, apart from the padayatra, there is nothing notable that Jagan can be credited for.

In the current scenario, both CBN and Jagan are in a similar space, like they were in 2014. Both of them have massive following, strong candidates from each constituency, and attractive policies.. In 2014, there was indeed a ‘Modi wave’ across the nation, but now, it seems to have wavered. So, we cannot really tell if the switch in the national alliance will have an impact on TDP’s vote share. Further, YSRCP’s stance is still unclear, but speculations are running rife that it might support the BJP. In the recent Survey by Newsx and Polstrat , TDP is leading with 43 % vote share and YSRCP is at 37% . Amidst the change in equations and speculations, it would be interesting to see who will win. Since, the situation is eerily similar to that of 2014, there are all chances that the result might also be similar because it is too strange and strong to be a mere coincidence.In the recent Survey by Newsx and Polstrat , TDP is leading with 43 % vote share and YSRCP is at 37% .