Former YSRCP Rajya Sabha member Vijayasai Reddy is preparing to launch a new political party in Andhra Pradesh, with its name, flag and agenda to be revealed around Vijayadashami, according to Deccan Chronicle. He wrote on X that the party’s name, flag and agenda are being prepared. Reports differ slightly on the timing: Deccan Chronicle said the details would come on Vijayadashami, while The News Minute reported that they would be announced after the festival.
The announcement is the latest turn in a career that has shifted sharply. The News Minute noted that Reddy announced his retirement from active politics in January 2025 and then declared on 7 September 2026 that he would form a new party. The reports reviewed do not give the date on which he left the YSRCP or the Rajya Sabha, and IndiaX24 has not independently established it.
Reddy has described the party as a “viable alternative” to the ruling Telugu Desam Party, the YSRCP and the Jana Sena Party. He has said that in every constituency a new leadership, dedicated and decisive, would emerge as an alternative to what he called the two family parties. Deccan Chronicle quoted him as saying that Gen Z would hold the power in the party and that he would play the role of the late Bal Thackeray, the founder of the Shiv Sena, in politics.
The News Minute listed some of the proposals he has outlined. Two-thirds of party tickets, 66 percent, would go to candidates aged between 25 and 40. The party would focus on ending corruption and what he called the politics of vindictiveness, and its five-point manifesto includes lower commodity prices, free electricity, lower fuel taxes, expanded water storage and stronger schools. He also proposed a “graduate bridge allowance” for unemployed graduates, according to that report.
On leadership, Reddy has said that neither he nor any member of his family would seek to be the party’s chief ministerial candidate in the 2029 assembly elections. He would instead act as a mentor. He also dismissed critics who said that he was not eligible to float a party, calling such comments “unwarranted”. The reports reviewed do not give reactions from the TDP, the YSRCP or the Jana Sena, so the parties’ response is not yet known.
One outlet, Great Andhra, placed an earlier announcement of the party at Tirumala, according to its headline, while others reported it from Visakhapatnam, where he is said to be unveiling five proposals. The differences in place and timing show that the plan has been unfolding in stages, with the name, flag and agenda still to come. Andhra Pradesh’s last assembly election was held in 2024 and the next is due in 2029, so any new party has about two and a half years to build a presence.
For Andhra Pradesh the significance depends on whether the party can find candidates and money in a state where politics is dominated by a few well-organised parties. The 2029 election is still more than two years away, which gives a new entrant time but also leaves room for voters to lose interest. IndiaX24 will report on the party’s name, flag and agenda when they are announced, and on the reaction from the major parties.
Featured image: Visakhapatnam city seen from Kailasagiri hill (file photo, 2019). Photo by IM3847, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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