An interesting development has taken place in Andhra Pradesh politics.
Except for YSRCP chief Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy and his media house Sakshi, most YSRCP leaders and workers are openly supporting Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his recent allegations against the Election Commission (EC).
Rahul Gandhi has accused the EC of manipulating votes in favour of the BJP.
For the past few days, he has been claiming that the Congress has explosive evidence - like an “atom bomb” - to prove this vote theft, and once it is revealed, EC officials will have nowhere to hide.
On Thursday in New Delhi, Rahul held a press conference and gave a detailed PowerPoint presentation showing how votes were allegedly stolen in the Bengaluru Central constituency.
He also presented examples from other states to highlight mistakes and irregularities by the EC. His claims have triggered political tremors across the country, questioning the credibility of the Election Commission itself.
In Andhra Pradesh, Jagan has also been accusing the EC of irregularities and blaming EVM tampering for YSRCP’s defeat.
So many expected Sakshi to give major coverage to Rahul’s revelations.
But surprisingly, Sakshi gave little attention to the issue - certainly not on the front page - while pro-government newspapers in the NDA alliance carried it prominently.
In Andhra Pradesh, Eenadu, Sakshi, and Andhra Jyothy are the major newspapers. On this issue, Eenadu and Andhra Jyothy published detailed reports, but Sakshi restricted the story to an inside page. This has surprised even YSRCP supporters.
Meanwhile, YSRCP leaders and workers are actively sharing Rahul’s videos on social media, attacking the NDA alliance and saying the same kind of fraud happened in Andhra Pradesh.
Political observers feel that while Jagan may have personal differences with Rahul, ignoring such serious allegations about EC misconduct - even on his own party’s mouthpiece - reflects his thinking.
This has sparked a debate on how genuine Jagan’s claims about election irregularities really are.