Hyderabad: With Andhra Pradesh (AP) elections just about six months away, Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) president and Chief Minister Jaganmohan Reddy has announced a massive voter outreach programme.
The campaign’s catchphrase — “Why AP needs Jagan?” — seems to counter the opposition Telugu Desam Party’s (TDP) slogans like #APvsJagan #IAmWithBabu and #PsychoPovaliCycleRaavali (Psycho should exit, cycle should arrive). The TDP’s poll symbol is a cycle.
“The positive change we brought with our welfare-centric governance is evident in every household, village, and constituency. So, I am asking, why not 175 (total seats in the state assembly)? Let us march ahead to the polls with this motto,” Jagan told his partymen Monday.
The YSRCP president addressed a gathering of about 8,000 leaders — ministers, legislators, regional coordinators, observers, zilla parishad territorial constituency and Mandal parishad territorial constituency members, municipal chairpersons, corporators, district unit presidents, sarpanches and other party functionaries — in Vijayawada, unveiling his roadmap for the polls.
The YSRCP had swept the 2019 state elections, bagging 151 seats and reducing the TDP to an all-time low of 23 seats. It also won 22 Lok Sabha seats that year.
The party’s campaign would be conducted in two phases from 1 November to 10 December, the CM said.
“In the first stage, mandal-level YSRCP leaders will visit all households and interact with every person in villages/ward secretariats, explaining the necessity of the YSRCP continuing in power for the successful implementation of welfare programmes,” he added.
In the second phase, local party leaders will hoist the YSRCP flag and interact with village elders and families, “emphatically conveying the message that the YSRCP treated its poll manifesto like the Bhagavad Gita, Quran and Bible and implemented 99 percent of its 2019 election promises”.
“At the same time, party volunteers and local representatives should explain to people how the TDP had dumped its election manifesto into the dustbin once they came to power in 2014,” Jagan said.
In May, TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu had announced an introductory manifesto titled ‘Bhavishyathu ki Guarantee’ (assurance for a bright future), with promises like Rs 1,500 monthly financial aid to every woman in the 18-59 age group, free bus rides for women, and Rs 20,000 annual support to each farmer.
The YSRCP would also take out bus yatras from 25 October to 31 December in every assembly constituency, which will see participation by party MLAs, local conveners, and scheduled caste (SC), scheduled tribe (ST), backward caste (BC) and minority community leaders, according to the CM.
These yatras, the CM said, will include three public meetings every day to explain to people “how the YSRCP achieved social justice through the implementation of various welfare schemes and brought revolutionary changes in the educational, agricultural, medical and health sectors”.
The Jagananna Arogya Suraksha, launched by Jagan last month to provide dedicated healthcare to the poor, would continue till 10 November with health camps and door-to-door surveys being carried out and covering 1.6 crore households across the state, said the CM, adding that “YSRCP cadres should own the programme to ensure that each and every family is covered”.
To attract youth, Aadudham Andhra Pradesh (Let’s Play, Andhra Pradesh) sports festival will be held by the government from 11 December to 15 January, Jagan further said.
“The objective is to identify talented sportspersons and encourage them to participate in national-level sports and games,” he added.
According to the CM, monthly welfare pensions to the poor and other needy would be hiked to the promised Rs 3,000 amount from January.
Increasing the Rs 2,000 pension under TDP rule to Rs 3,000 was the YSRCP’s 2019 election promise. The sum has been hiked thrice by Rs 250 and is Rs 2,750 now.
“Our government spent over Rs 2,35,000 crore on direct benefit transfers under welfare schemes with full transparency, created 2.07 lakh additional government jobs, and distributed 30 lakh house sites to the poor. SC, ST, BC and minorities are the main beneficiaries. Please go and tell people and build massive public awareness about all our good deeds,” Jagan told the party’s leaders and cadres. “The aim, remember, is to win 175 of 175 seats.”
Speaking to ThePrint, TDP national spokesperson Kommareddy Pattabhiram said, “The widespread topic of discussion at present is ‘why AP hates Jagan’?”
“People are recalling Jagan’s acts that derailed AP from its growth track. Livelihoods have been destroyed in the construction sector and job opportunities in IT are gone. While people are burdened with additional taxes, power charges, etc, YSRCP leaders are looting the state resources,” he explained. “The baseless charges and arrest of Naidu have further angered the public.”
“We are making ‘Why AP hates Jagan?’ our campaign slogan now,” he added.
Also Read: Chandrababu’s arrest unfair, Modi did same with same firms in Gujarat, says TDP chief’s son Lokesh
‘No grudge against Naidu’
Jagan’s massive voter outreach plan has been unveiled at a time when a C-Voter survey showed that Naidu’s arrest in the alleged AP skill development scam “would generate voter sympathy for the former CM”.
On Monday, a month since Naidu’s arrest, Jagan said it was “not a case of political vendetta”.
“I hold no grudge against him (Naidu). I was away in London when Naidu was picked up (by the state crime investigation department). Naidu’s corruption was probed by central agencies like the Enforcement Directorate, and the income tax department has also served him notices (over undisclosed income). He was accused of massive graft by Narendra Modi’s BJP way back when we were in Opposition. Naidu subsequently refused entry to Central Bureau of Investigation (officials) inside the state,” Jagan said, asking YSRCP cadres to also “explain Naidu’s corruption to the public”.
The YSRCP chief made light of the TDP and Jana Sena Party coming together to contest the state polls.
“Two zeros, or four zeros coming together, will only result in a big zero. I do not need any alliance with anyone. If some good has happened to you because of me, please become my soldiers,” Jagan appealed to the voters.
“Our political presence should be such that our photo should be there in people’s homes even after we are gone,” Jagan said, in an apparent reference to the lingering admiration in the state for his father, the late Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy who was Andhra CM from 2004 to 2009.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
Also Read: Pawan Kalyan’s JSP declares alliance with TDP in Andhra. What’s keeping BJP from joining them