The Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (lit.'Youth, Labour, and Farmer Congress Party', YSRCP or YCP),[7] often shortened to simply the YSR Congress Party, is an Indian regionalpolitical party based in the state of Andhra Pradesh.[8] The party was initially registered with Election Commission of India by Kolishetti Shiva Kumar. Thereafter, the party was taken over by its current president, Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy,[9][10][11][12][13] having served as the state's chief minister from 2019-2024. It currently has 4 seats in the Lok Sabha.
Origins
After the sudden death of the then-incumbent Chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy (YSR) in a helicopter crash in September 2009,[14][15] his son, Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, the incumbent MP from Kadapa requested Sonia Gandhi to make him chief minister but party denied his request.[16] Just to fulfill Jagan's promise he started an Odarpu Yatra (condolence tour) across Andhra Pradesh, to console the families of those who committed suicide or died of shock after the death of his father.[17][18] The tour was not supported by the Congress leadership.[19] Defying the Congress Working Committee's order to call off the tour, Jagan went ahead with the first leg of the "Odarpu Yatra" in the West Godavari and Khammam districts in April 2010.[20]
Meanwhile, Sakshi TV news channel and Sakshi newspaper, which are closely affiliated with YSR and Jagan, had been continuously criticizing the new Chief Minister Konijeti Rosaiah and the Congress leadership at New Delhi. In a special programme on Sakshi TV to mark the 125th-anniversary celebrations of the Congress party, a voice-over made remarks on Sonia Gandhi and the Prime MinisterManmohan Singh on the "current state of affairs" in the state, which invited anger and protests from the Congress loyalists and increased the gap and friction between Jagan and the Congress loyalists.[21] The channel later omitted those remarks in a re-telecast.[22]
After accusing the Congress of ill-treating him and with a state ministerial slot in the aftermath of the death of his father, Jagan and his mother, Y. S. Vijayamma, resigned from the KadapaLok Sabha and PulivendulaAssembly constituencies respectively and also as members of the Congress in November 2010.[23][9][24] Many Congress leaders loyal to Jagan also quit the party and joined the YSR Congress. This resulted in the weakening of Congress in both the assembly and Lok Sabha, necessitating by-elections.
Initially the party was setup by K. Shiva Kumar a fan of YSR. After the rift with congress Y. S. Jagan acquired YSRCP and took complete responsibilities from Shiva Kumar.,[9] and later, after few years, Jagan expelled the party founder and took the complete control of the party.[25]
Electoral performance
In the ensuing by-elections, after the formation of the party, it won most of the vacated seats with many of the Indian National Congress (governing party) and the Telugu Desam Party (the main opposition) candidates losing their deposits.[26] In iiMarch 2012, YSR Congress won the Kovur Assembly seat in Nellore district in a by-election.[27][28]
It went for 2019 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly election in 2019 emerged as the 5th largest political party in India. It did not contest in 2018 Telangana Legislative Assembly election.[33]
The party won the 2019 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly election in a landslide, winning 151 of the 175 seats,[34][35][36] including a clean sweep in VizianagaramKadapa, Kurnool and Nellore districts. It has been in government since 30 May 2019 and currently, in addition to having 151 members in the 175-member state assembly, the party has 22 members in the Lok Sabha (out of 25 in AP) based on the election results declared on 23 May 2019.
The party lost the 2024 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly election to the NDA alliance, securing only 11 out of 175 seats in the state legislative assembly even failing to secure the opposition status as the party didn't secure at least 10% seats.
In 2022, the Election Commission of India (ECI) sought clarification from the YSR Congress Party regarding the reports announcing Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy as the permanent president of the party. The ECI expressed its displeasure and concern over this potential adoption by the party, citing it as an anti-democratic move.[38][39][40]
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