YS Jagan Mohan Reddy showed his political acumen in the way he handled YS Vijayamma’s resignation from the YSRCP. While it is common knowledge that Vijayamma is estranged and is clearly siding with daughter YS Sharmila, who has launched a party in Telangana, the way he managed her estrangement is now coming for praise.

YS Jagan made Vijayamma attend the party plenary, laud the YSRCP government, shower praises on YS Jagan and then announce her resignation from the party’s president’s post. This has minimized the impact of her resignation and ensured that the opposition does not get any weapon to attack the YSRCP.

It is well-known that both Vijayamma and Sharmila are unhappy as Jagan has rejected their recommendations for nominated posts and has effectively snuffed any chance of another power centre emerging within the YSRCP. By rejecting the recommendations from within his own family, Jagan has also sent powerful signals that he does not give in to pulls and pressures from within the family.

Over the last one-and-a-half years, he has also shown that he is the sole boss in the YSRCP. He did not allow any of his ministers to attend the release function of the book on YSR written by Vijayamma. He also ensured that no one supports YS Sharmila. Since then, it was clear that Vijayama would exit the party. This would have given a powerful issue to his rivals.

However, he ensured that Vijayamma’s exit from the party would be seamless and that there would be no rupture within the party. He asked her to resign in the plenary and make a graceful exit. By handling the issue in a smooth manner, YS Jagan has shown that he is maturing as a politician.