How Andhra CM Jagan & rival Naidu are trying to get divinity on their side ahead of assembly polls

Hyderabad: With assembly elections just a few weeks away, the two main contenders in Andhra Pradesh have completed one aspect of their preparation — invoking divine intervention to aid their victory.

On Wednesday, Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy attended the poornahuti — the concluding act of offerings in the homam (holy fire) — of an ornate yagam at the Saradha Peetham in Visakhapatnam. Before this, former CM Chandrababu Naidu and his wife had sat in a three-day sacramental ritual at their residence at Undavalli near Amaravati last week.

Notably, Reddy and his family are practitioners of Christianity.

Politicians all over the country are known to seek divine blessings to tide over difficult phases by performing various rituals and making offerings at temples. But in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the ‘Raja Shyamala Yagam’ has become the go-to liturgy, especially ahead of the polls, observers said.

Chandrababu Naidu with his wife in the Raja Shyamala yagam performed at their residence last week | By special arrangement

Chandrababu Naidu with his wife in the Raja Shyamala yagam performed at their residence last week | By special arrangement

The elaborate Vedic service both Reddy and Naidu took part in is called the Raja Shyamala Yagam, which Telangana’s first CM and BRS chief K. Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) also performed weeks ahead of the state assembly elections in 2018 and 2023.

The yagam, according to Sri Siva Swamy of Sri Shaiva Kshetram, on river Krishna banks near Amaravati, is mainly performed to appease the almighty while seeking adhikaaram (power). It is conducted based on the janma nakshatra (birth star), and astrological considerations, among other things.

“Raja Shyamala is a powerful goddess, also known as Mathangi in the Hindu scriptures. The ritual can be performed for three to over 12 days, based on one’s capacity,” Sri Siva Swami told ThePrint.

Worshipping Raja Shyamala Devi, or conducting homam for her, helps to achieve success in business or political life. The yagam involves Ganapathi pooja, Punyahavachanam, Kalasa pooja, and Navagraha pooja, invoking the deity and chanting of mantras dedicated to the goddess, while conducting the homam as prescribed in the shastras, according to websites offering Hindus religious services.

In May 2019, some Telangana Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders had sponsored the yagam in Warangal, for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to become the PM second time successively.

Reddy completed the same yagam before the 2019 AP assembly elections in which he was propelled to power.

Both KCR and Reddy accomplished the ritual at least twice under the guidance of the Visakha Sarada Peetham head pontiff Swaroopanandendra Saraswati. In December 2018, days after his re-election, KCR even visited the Sarada Peetham on Vizag’s outskirts to pay respects to Swaroopanandendra Saraswati.

Jagan Mohan Reddy with Visakha Sarada Peetham pontiff Swaroopanandendra Saraswati | By special arrangement

Jagan Mohan Reddy with Visakha Sarada Peetham pontiff Swaroopanandendra Saraswati | By special arrangement

The Visakha Sarada Peetham is said to be the only place with a Raja Shyamala shrine.

“In 2014, when everyone thought YSRCP (Yuvajana Shramika Rythu Congress Party) was winning, it was the Visakha Sarada Peetham seer who predicted Jagan’s loss. Since then, Jagan developed immense faith in him and has been following his directions when undertaking some Hindu rituals,” said I.Y.R. Krishna Rao, former chief secretary of Andhra Pradesh, now “ideologically associated” with the BJP.

According to political analyst D.A.R. Subrahmanyam, the yagam has become popular in the two Telugu states, not just with party chiefs, but many candidates and ticket aspirants across the spectrum, performing it to seek divine support in their election endeavours.

“While many politicians are inclined religiously and themselves opt for the yagam, some are approached by swamyjis, pundits saying that, given the alignment of their astrological stars, a yagam would help overcome any possible difficulty. A ticket aspirant in a north Andhra district, whom I have known for several years performed it recently,” Subrahmanyam told ThePrint.

‘Jagan’s acts intended to appease Hindu voters’

In May 2023, one such grand yagam was conducted in Vijayawada, under the aegis of the YSRCP government’s endowments department, which the opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Congress charged as “Jagan spending public money to retain power.”

Earlier in 2020, TDP leaders charged that special treatment and privileges were accorded to the pontiff in AP temples, showing Reddy’s favouritism towards the swami.

Jana Sena leaders last month demanded the withdrawal of 15-acre land allocated by the state government to the Peetham, allegedly at a throwaway price near Vizag. The Opposition terms these “undue benefits” as “Jagan’s guru-dakshina, swamy bhakti”.

Reddy’s yagam in Vizag last week, comes following his participation, along with his wife Bharathi Reddy in traditional wear, in Bhogi-Sankranti celebrations at his Tadepalli camp office, where a temple-like set-up was built for the purpose. A gaushala is being run at the place.

Speaking to ThePrint, AP BJP vice-president Vishnu Vardhan Reddy alleged “Jagan’s acts, appearances are intended to appease Hindu voters in the poll season.”

Meanwhile, the TDP said that Naidu conducted Raja Shyamala yagam now to help AP get back on the path of development. The yagam at Naidu’s place was guided by a Guntur-based Vedic pundit P. Srinivasacharyulu, said TDP sources.

“Faith is a personal aspect and rituals individual choices. Our party chief chose to conduct the yagam for the well-being of AP and its people. Given that we are facing a crucial election to defeat the anti-development, anti-people Jagan, some godly support would certainly boost our morale, and strength further,” Deepak Reddy, a TDP MLC and party’s national spokesperson told ThePrint.

(Edited by Richa Mishra)