There are two new stars on the AP political horizon who proved that they had charisma and could win elections through simple magic.
They are the Mega Star-turned-politician Chiranjeevi and the businessman-turned-politician Y S Jaganmohan Reddy.Comparing the political journey of Chiranjeevi and Jagan, from where they started, where they are now, and where they could end up in the near future, would make an interesting reading:
Chiranjeevi:
He lived like an emperor in the film industry. He was called the Mega Star and the industry was at his beck and call. He has suddenly decided to plunge into politics and cleanse it. Thus he has started his journey sometime during 2007-2008, giving himself just a year or so for snatching power in one of India’s largest states, in the 2009 general elections. He has completely banked upon his charisma to pip everybody to the post. He started his political journey starting as a complete novice.His biggest mistake was to bank on his own charisma and hoping to win a majority of the 294 constituencies of Andhra Pradesh,
His major handicap was that he had no political strategist like either KVP Ramachandra Rao or Vijaya Sai Reddy who had helped Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and his son Jaganmohan Reddy in their political manipulations.There is no doubt that Chiranjeevi’s charisma has worked in all the 294constituencies. But he could not cash in on his charisma as he did not have the right people in all these constituencies to represent him.
And the biggest contributors to the failure of Chiranjeevi’s political debut were perhaps the two most tactical and astute politicians ever born in India. One being the TDP chief Chandra Babu Naidu, while the other was the late YS Rajasekhara Reddy.
One can easily say that, a thousand Chiranjeevis are no match to either a single YSR, or a CBN or for the matter even a single Jagan, in terms of political strategy, thinking and action.Having said that, it should also be admitted that a thousand YSRs, CBNs or Jagans cannot be a match Chiranjeevi in charisma.
But in politics, political strategy combined with a little charisma always wins over Charisma combined with little or no political strategy.
Jagan:
Jagan started his political journey long before Chiranjeevi did, under the political tutelage of his late father. Though his party is a roughly just two-year-old, he planned his strategies impeccably. He never planned to pull the government down and force mid-term polls, without first testing his strength. He was at one stage in a position to actually bring the government down. He chose to go step by step.As a first step, he has tested the waters through by-elections forced by his and his mother’s resignations.
He has backed out of the by-elections in Telangana strategically. If he had contested the by-polls then and lost, it would have had devastating effect on his future plans. The debacle in Telangana would have brought curtains down on his party even in the Seemandhra region.
He has faced the recent by-elections to 18 Assembly constituencies (17 of which are in the Seemandhra region) with full force and posted a stunning victory. His reasoning proved to be correct.Jagan is now preparing the ground for the next 2years for the ultimate test in the 2014 general elections, with the by-poll success as his strength.Apart from his clever strategies, his media has also helped him in his success despite massive corruption cases (not just allegations) pending against him.
Where dothey stand now?ForChiranjeevi, things were never better before.The former Mega Star watched in awe his ambitions destroyed by the corrupt Telugu media. His party had coverts planted by his main rivals Congress and TDP, who dented his and the party’s image in a major way. They joined the PRP amid fan fare and left it leveling serious charges against it and Chiranjeevi before the media. A cine couple went hammer and tongs at him. His main drawback was not having the necessary wherewithal and the think tank to run a political outfit.
He however did some hard thinking and pulled the wind out of the sails of many of his baiters, by merging his entire outfit, lock, stock and barrel in the Congress. The very same media which united to smash his ambitions are now fighting each other like mafia gang lords, with heavy chances of their fights being taken to the streets and a lot of dirty secrets waiting to be spilled out, along with the possibility of some blood too.
The very same media houses which jointly tarnished Chiranjeevi’s image, are now on the brink of ruining their as well as their respective patrons’ images through their circus. Seeing all this, Chiru (as he is affectionately called), would be having the last laugh. The one aspect of Chiru which has been admired by many is, he never hits back at his detractors. Never. His patience seems unending.Both Jagan and Chandrababu have strong media back up.
Jagan’s mouthpiece ‘Sakshi’ turned him into a demi-God. CBN has his own proxy media channels to draw support from.As the life of a demon lies in the heart of a parrot in the fairy tales, the success of Jagan and CBN lies in their respective media outfits.Stifle or Destroy their media, Jagan and CBN get destroyed.
Right now, there is no need to destroy these media outfits. They are well on their way to destroy themselves.
Final Analysis:
In a soccer match between two teams, if one side scores 15 goals and the other only 2 goals, the focus would be on the two goals of the loosing team, if hit by the same player. Specially, if the other 15 goals were on expected lines. That player from the loosing side who has set up or hit those two goals (whichever way he has contributed), tends to become an overnight rage. Ten out of ten times the striker of the losing team could end up getting a bigger contract vis-a-vis any single player from the winning team.
This adulation which he receives, in the aftermath is for 2 primary reasons:
01. He single handedly stemmed the rot. Which otherwise would have been a 17-0 defeat for his side.
02. He has given a glimmer of hope to his losing team and supporters that all is not lost. He has also created a sense of doubt in the winning team (specially their leader), who would be busy in the celebrations of their 15-2 success, that, he/they cannot take things for granted the next time. These are plain facts of life.
