Neither Jagan Mohan Reddy nor TDP supremo Chandrababu Naidu can afford to lose the assembly election. Both leaders have been mired in corruption scandals and served prison stints. The public office may help in battling these cases. Key to Reddy’s campaign is welfare. Critics call his schemes a fiscal disaster but the CM hopes that the navaratnalu (nine gems), mostly focussed on rural voters, will help him defeat anti-incumbency. What distinguishes Reddy’s welfare politics is the focus on delivery. The 2.56 lakh plus village and ward volunteers he recruited at the state’s expense to keep track of schemes and facilitate the delivery of public goods and services have also been an arm of his political outreach.

The elections will test if Reddy’s welfare politics has the traction to override the social alliance of Kammas and Kapus that Naidu has stitched by aligning with actor Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena Party. Reddy’s failure to build a state capital can, however, hurt his prospects.