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, 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. 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. The tour was not supported by the Congress leadership. 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. 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 Minister Manmohan 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. The channel later omitted those remarks in a re-telecast. 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
Kadapa Lok Sabha and
Pulivendula Assembly constituencies respectively and also as members of the Congress in November 2010. 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 set up 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., ==Electoral performance==