‘Vote for change, vote without fear,’ Jagan tells young voters

Mumbai: A serious contender for the top seat in Andhra Pradesh, YSR Congress chief Jagan Mohan Reddy was seen early at a voting booth in Andhra Pradesh’s Pulivendula where he urged first-time voters to “vote for change” and to “vote without fear”.

Reddy was very confident of a win. “I am pretty sure people are looking for a change. I hope it would happen,” he told a television channel.

The fight is clearly between the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) with Jana Sena leader and actor Pawan Kalyan likely to emerge as the X factor in this tight battle.

Jagan has drawn big crowds with his mother Y S Vijayamma and sister Y S Sharmila by his side. He has promised to bring back ‘Rajanna Rajyam’ – a reference to his father Y S Rajasekhara Reddy’s tenure as chief minister during which he introduced many welfare schemes.

Reddy, 46, has said he is open to partnering anyone at the Centre as long as they give Andhra Pradesh the special status. He hopes to rope in K Chandrashekar Rao's Telangana Rashtra Samithi and All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen or AIMIM to bargain for the special category status for Andhra Pradesh.

Telugu Desam Party chief and chief minister Chandrababu Naidu had earlier pulled out of the NDA angry with the Centre ignoring his request for the special status to the state.

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