YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy addressed the media on Tuesday, June 4, expressing his surprise at the election results after suffering a terrible defeat by the Telugu Desam Party (TDP). According to the latest updates from the Election Commission, the TDP is marching towards a victory, while the YSRCP is leading only 12 seats out of 175 in the Andhra Pradesh assembly election.
As per the updates, TDP is set to emerge victorious in 136 seats, Janasena Party (JSP) in 21 , and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 8.
In an emotional speech, Jagan Mohan Reddy highlighted his welfare schemes and questioned the loyalty of the beneficiaries. "What happened to the affection of the people we worked for? It feels like a betrayal, though I have no evidence. However, we respect the verdict," he said.
Jagan stated that the YSRCP would always stand up for people belonging to disadvantaged groups and be the voice of the voiceless. Congratulating the alliance partners, he said, "This is an alliance of powerful people, those who operate out of Delhi. I congratulate them for their win." In addition, he claimed that his party still held about 40% of the vote in spite of the defeat.
With 49.95% of the vote, the YSRCP won 151 of the 175 Assembly seats in 2019, while the TDP only managed to win 23 seats with 39.17% of the vote. For the 2024 polls, TDP, JSP and BJP formed an alliance ahead of the assembly elections with the aim of preventing the anti-YSRCP vote from splitting.
"We will rise again to power. I have been in opposition for several years except for the past five and this is not new to me," Jagan stated, indicating his readiness to face future political challenges and hinting at potential vendetta politics.
Meanwhile, Y Vijayasai Reddy, a former Rajya Sabha MP for the YSRCP, stated that the party will analyse the results and consider a review meeting with leaders from every constituency, presided over by the party president YS Jagan.