YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has shifted completely to Bengaluru after the defeat. He now comes to Tadepalli once a week. During these visits, he meets available leaders or addresses the Press briefly before returning.
To face the media, there needs to be a major issue that keeps the Press and public engaged. YSR Congress is clearly struggling to find such issues. This lack of strong topics has reduced the impact of Jagan's interactions with the media.
Whenever Jagan addresses the Press, he mostly reads out figures related to freebies. He also speaks about issues from the previous week or two. The press conference usually ends without creating wider public attention.
Issues like rebutting the Government's GSDP numbers, falling banana prices, and water disputes with Telangana remained limited to Tweets. Even when raised in press meets, these topics failed to sustain public interest or gain momentum.
Recently, Jagan visited Joji Nagar in Vijayawada, where the Government demolished 42 houses. He alleged the demolitions were illegal despite a pending Supreme Court case and court relief till December 31. The issue ended the same day.
Major political issues require repeated press meets, follow-up statements by leaders, and ground-level agitations. YSR Congress is struggling to identify such issues at present. This has weakened its ability to corner the Government effectively.
In recent times, the privatization of Government Medical Colleges has been the only major issue for YSR Congress. Following Jagan's call, party leaders and activists worked at the grassroots level on this matter for months.
YSRCP leaders held multiple media interactions and conducted several district-level programmes. Jagan, however, limited himself mostly to press meets. The party also launched a signature campaign against privatization.
YSRCP claimed to have collected one crore signatures, which have reached Tadepalli. These will be submitted to the Governor's office. YS Jagan and other leaders will meet Governor Abdul Nazeer to explain public opposition.
With this submission, the agitation against the privatization of medical colleges will also come to an end. YSR Congress now needs a new issue to challenge the Government, but none is clearly visible.
Many feel even the medical colleges issue was stretched beyond its importance due to a lack of alternatives. Amaravati could have been a major issue due to pending Returnable Plots and fresh land pooling.
However, Jagan's stance on Amaravati prevents him from taking it up. Farmers may also not trust him due to the earlier three capitals move. As a result, the search for a strong issue continues for Jagan Mohan Reddy.