Hyderabad: After a gruelling two-month election campaign across Andhra Pradesh, the state’s political heavyweights have retreated from the public eye.
Chief Minister and Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) chief Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, his predecessor Telugu Desam Party’s (TDP) Chandrababu Naidu, and JanaSena’s Pawan Kalyan, who tirelessly campaigned in the scorching heat, are now overseas following the simultaneous elections for the assembly and Lok Sabha seats on 13 May.
The absence of these leaders from the state has sparked curiosity. While Jagan’s European vacation with his family is public knowledge, Naidu and Kalyan’s locations remain undisclosed. This secrecy extends to Nara Lokesh, TDP general secretary and Naidu’s son.
While Jagan’s last tweet was on 14 May thanking the voters “for their blessings” and Kalyan’s on 11 May on Padma awards, Naidu is occasionally posting on X in his absence from the state. Lokesh, though, has been active with tweets. He also shared a video of YSRCP MLA Pinnelli Rama Krishna Reddy vandalising a polling booth in Macherla.
Describing the disappearance of Naidu, Kalyan as “somewhat mysterious,” political observer D.A.R. Subrahmanyam told ThePrint that tall political leaders should maintain transparency in every aspect. “It is not a good tradition— why should a senior politician like Naidu keep his foreign tours under wraps?”
Kalyan’s last known public appearance was during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s nomination in Varanasi on 14 May, where Naidu was also present. Before going abroad, Naidu, accompanied by wife Bhuvaneswari, also offered prayers at the Kolhapur Mahalakshmi and Shirdi Sai Baba temples on 16 May.
Jagan, along with his family, embarked on a visit to Europe on 17 May, taking a special flight from the Gannavaram airport near Vijayawada to London. According to CMO sources, he is expected to return on 1 June — three days ahead of the results. A few short videos of him at a foreign airport and moving in cars also appeared on social media.
In stark contrast, the complete lack of visuals for Naidu, Lokesh, and Kalyan has raised questions from the YSRCP about the rationale behind such secrecy.
“Nobody knows where the state Opposition leader is. Naidu’s son Lokesh ran away three days before him. And the celebrity also (Kalyan), I saw in some news, went to a foreign land for an award ceremony. How can such big public personalities go on secret tours? What is the issue or danger in disclosing which city or country they are in?” Botsa Satyanarayana, a senior minister in Jagan’s cabinet, remarked earlier this week.
The minister went on to add that according to his knowledge, the TDP chief is neither in the US nor the UK, and doubted “if Naidu would return to India or not, fearing another defeat”.
YSRCP minister Jogi Ramesh suggested Naidu’s whereabouts have become a hot topic in Andhra Pradesh and that even his close aides in TDP and a section of media favourable to him are unaware of his location.
“While some say he is in a foreign country taking rest, others say he is in the US for a medical check-up. Which version is true?” Jogi asked in a press conference Tuesday.
The YSRCP leaders are also questioning if Naidu’s tour was permitted by the courts as the former chief minister is out on bail in the alleged skill development scam case, in which he was arrested last September by the Andhra Pradesh-CID.
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‘For family’s safety, security’
While Botsa and Jogi remarked that information about Jagan’s visit abroad is in the public domain, TDP-JanaSena leaders mocked the statement saying that it became public only “as the AP CM needed to take the CBI court permission to step outside the country”.
Jagan flew abroad after a clearance from a CBI court in Hyderabad dealing with his disproportionate assets cases filed in 2012. Arrested by the central probe agency in May 2012, he has been out on bail since September 2013.
Meanwhile, talking about Pawan Kalyan’s location, a senior JSP leader told ThePrint: “We know where our leader is and he is available to us when needed. But we need not tell Botsa or any court about his whereabouts, unlike Jagan who is required to.”
“Kalyan is abroad and is expected back in a couple of days,” the leader added when asked about claims that Kalyan either went to Russia with his Russian-origin wife or is in Dubai.
Approached over the phone to seek clarity on his current location, Nara Lokesh told ThePrint, “Yes, due to safety and security issues, we normally keep the trips confidential till the tours are completed. This has been the practice of our family since 2004.”
“The entire family is together,” he added.
But about Naidu’s whereabouts, though the party remained clueless, a TDP leader told ThePrint that the former chief minister is expected to return to the state by Sunday or Monday “in time for TDP founder N.T. Rama Rao’s birth anniversary”.
While party supremos traversed the length and breadth of the state to seek votes, their families — including Naidu’s wife Bhuvaneshwari, Lokesh’s wife Brahmani and Jagan’s wife Bharathi — have also been active on the campaign trail for their husbands in Kuppam, Mangalagiri and Pulivendula assembly constituencies, respectively.
(Edited by Richa Mishra)
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