Only a slight cut, now sporting a band-aid. The Chief Minister is fighting anti-incumbency of double the 'proof'. Is Jagan Mohan Reddy and his party, the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP), ready for the general election and assembly elections 2024? Voting for both sets of polls in Andhra Pradesh will take place on May 13.

And the YSRCP will be taking on a BJP-TDP-Jana Sena alliance with the Congress also in the fray. For those who like family dramas, replete with sibling rivalry, jealousy and an unsolved 2019 murder thrown in for good measure, they will find the Andhra Pradesh elections made to order. The Congress will be looking for upsets and there isn't a shade of INDI-Alliance cast on Andhra soil.

For right now, except the offending projectile, there isn’t much to talk about Andhra Pradesh elections. Curiously enough, Andhra politicians are leaving every stone unturned. Jagan’s estranged sister YS Sharmila, who is out to cook Jagan’s goose, is with the Congress. Thankfully, for Sharmila, the stone didn’t create a sympathy wave for ‘brother-in-arms’.

Sharmila was accommodated in the Congress to neutralize Jagan Mohan Reddy and hand over Andhra on a platter to Rahul Gandhi. It isn't easy. As for the TDP, BJP and actor Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena, they aren't talking of flying projectiles. Whose fingerprint must have been on the culprit stone? There must be accessories to the fact. The Election Commission is seized of the matter. What’s left is to seize the hand that hurled.

Stones apart, Naidu's TDP believes this time is its time. Year 2019 was a bad year. Now Chandrababu wants his cake back. So, the tie-up with the BJP, which wants a foothold in the foothills of the Vindhyas. The Bharatiya Janata Party hopes it will make a breakthrough in the upcoming Lok Sabha and assembly elections riding piggyback on the TDP.

The BJP is eyeing to score some Lok Sabha seats and some assembly seats. BJP's Chanakya Amit Shah and Chandrababu Naidu sewed up the alliance. The underlying theme is that the Andhra voter wants change and YSRCP faces a death-dealing anti-incumbency.

Funny thing is, YSRCP is not running for cover. Congress got no Lok Sabha seat in 2019 Lok Sabha elections. It was a near sweep for YSRCP bagging 22 out of 25 seats. The Congress this time has allied with its INDIA partners CPI and the CPI(M). The CPI has got 2 seats and the CPI(M) one as a part of the understanding. The Congress certainly will get extra support since both the communist parties have traditional base in a number of districts. It is to be seen how the INDIA bloc can fight effectively the onslaught of ruling YSRCP as also BJP-TDP alliance. Political analysts feel that the two main opponents are YSRCP and the Telugu Desam Party. The BJP is a bit-player and Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena an extra on the sets. In this backdrop, the INDIA bloc has to prove its mettle. The Congress performance in 2024 poll after its disastrous results in 2019 polls, will be watched.

The BJP hopes TDP and Jan Sena will contribute to the BJP’s “400 paar kitty”. The BJP is scrounging for every Lok Sabha seat available.

But solo political player Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy is the only newsmaker. The stone hit him during his election campaign in Vijayawada. After Hyderabad went to Telangana, Vijayawada is the preferred location for both films and political events in Andhra Pradesh. News reports said “unknown men” threw stones at the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party chief and one of the projectiles found its mark.

Jagan Mohan was atop a campaign bus and the campaign goes by the name ‘Memanta Siddham’. The Chief Minister’s Office reacted: "The stone struck the CM while he was acknowledging the crowds as part of his bus tour at Vivekananda School Centre in Singh Nagar, Vijayawada." Apparently, this cleared the air and calm prevailed. Andhra Pradesh is not a mobocracy, yet. By the way, the stone hit the Andhra Chief Minister at a very high velocity and came from a catapult?

First aid administered, Jagan Mohan Reddy continued with his bus canvassing for the upcoming elections. The YSRCP is now accusing the TDP of involvement in the "attack" on the Chief Minister. Standard operating procedure, some would say. Fact of the matter is, electioneering in Andhra Pradesh is so lacklustre that it hurts the senses. May 13 is far away, but also not far away. By now rival political parties should be tearing each other up, casting baseless allegations and what have you not?

But ‘No’ and the media, too, has lost its verve, unable to paint red Andhra Pradesh with poll stories that will be told and retold. Chandrababu Naidu is out on bail and that isn’t a bad thing for politicians going into polls. At least he is not in a “Kejriwal situation” or in a K Kavitha, who has a teenaged son, tragedy. Andhra Pradesh is slow-walking into elections 2024 with only a flying stone to tell the story. (IPA Service)