Yeduguri Sandinti Jaganmohan Reddy, popularly known as Jagan, was born on December 21, 1972 to Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy and Vijaya Lakshmi in a Christian family in Pulivendula, Andhra Pradesh.
In October, a special court allowed Jagan Mohan Reddy to move in Andhra Pradesh and outside as part of his state tours, to meet leaders of political parties to lobby for a 'united' state.
With YSR Congress chief Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s release from jail, the political scenario in Andhra Pradesh is likely to change dynamically. There were allegations that the release was a match fixing ahead of the crucial 2014 elections to the Lok
Even while in jail, Reddy had started a hunger strike opposing the United Progressive Alliance's decision to endorse the creation of a separate Telangana state. After 125 hours of indefinite hunger strike, his sugar levels and BP were down.
From May 2012 till Sept 2013, he was in jail under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 for amassing wealth at at an enormous scale by providing quid pro quo favours to businesses.
He won the by-election to Kadapa Lok Sabha seat with a record margin of over five lakh votes in May 2011 while his mother Y S Vijaya won the Pulivendula Assembly seat in an emphatic fashion.
In March 2011, Jagan announced the setting up of his own Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress -- YSR Congress -- throwing a challenge primarily at Congress and also Telugu Desam Party.
On November 29, 2010, Jagan called it quits and walked out of the Congress, which his father loyally served for three decades, and also resigned from his Lok Sabha membership.
The flashpoint came in November 2010 when the Congress made N Kiran Kumar Reddy the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh in place of K Rosaiah in an ostensible bid to effectively counter Jagan.
In no time, Jagan's popularity graph shot upwards while that of the ruling Congress' dipped gradually. As the Congress objected to his yatra and rejected "permission", Jagan decided to snap his association with the party.
He took the 'Odarpu Yatra' path to build his political career independently, much to the discomfiture of the ruling party. Jagan's emergence as a leader began with the Odarpu Yatra as he went round villages and districts to console families that
Disillusioned, Jagan gradually began defying the Congress bosses and, by early 2010 was meticulously charting his own course.
He wanted to succeed his late father to the Chief Minister's throne but the Congress high command was unwilling to grant him the wish despite a majority of legislators rallying behind him.
His father's tragic death in a helicopter crash in September 2009, literally changed everything for Jagan.
He had to wait till 2009 to fulfil his dream and make a formal political debut by winning the Kadapa Lok Sabha seat.
41-year-old Jagan's political ambitions were first revealed in late 2004 when he aspired to become an MP from his home turf Kadapa but the Congress high command nipped that in the bud.
His business graph rose meteorically once his father became the state Chief Minister in 2004 and Jagan started venturing into many other businesses including cement plants, infrastructure and media.
Jagan began his business career in 1999-2000 by establishing a tiny power company Sandur in neighbouring Karnataka and then expanding it to the north-eastern states.