Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) chief Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy Saturday announced his party’s manifesto for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections without any new major programme, scheme or guarantee.
The manifesto, however, says that all the populist schemes, including the 2019 vote-earning Navaratnalu (nine welfare guarantees in health, education, social security, housing etc sectors) will continue if Jagan is given another term.
The move, YSRCP ministers and leaders said, exudes mutual confidence that Jagan and the electorate have in each other and that the ruling party will retain power with a resounding victory.
Andhra Pradesh will vote for its parliamentary and assembly elections on 13 May.
Revealing the “two-page manifesto” — Jagananna Navaratnalu+: Your Dreams, My Schemes — at his camp office in Tadepalli near Vijayawada, Jagan said that his government has successfully fulfilled 99 percent of the assurances given in 2019.
Meanwhile, despite the Opposition to his 2019 post-poll proposal for three separate capitals for the state and pending court cases, Jagan said he was determined to make Visakhapatnam his executive capital, after he retains his CM seat in June.
While the port-industrial city, Visakhapatnam, would be developed further to serve as Andhra Pradesh’s growth engine, Amaravati would remain as the legislative capital and Kurnool would be established as the judicial capital, stated Jagan.
“We treated our manifesto like a Bible, Quran and Bhagavad Gita and implemented it with full sincerity over the past five years. I make promises that are implementable, which is why I have gained your (public) credibility. Unlike Chandrababu Naidu, I cannot play with public faith,” said Jagan, accusing the former CM of defaulting on his 2014 promises, like waiving farm and women self-help group loans.
When questioned about the YSRCP manifesto lacking new announcements, YSRCP minister Dharmana Prasada Rao told reporters that the public “is happy with the Navaratnalu, which aided them immensely in their socio-economic upliftment in the past five years”.
“Leaders, who accused Jagan of pushing Andhra Pradesh the Sri Lanka or Venezuela way with his welfare agenda, can now make giant promises for sake of votes, but the electorate is confident in Jagan, who only makes practical promises,” said the minister.
Perni Venkataramaiah, a former YSRCP minister, told the media that for the public, “Jagan is an embodiment of their faith and confidence, and his welfare beneficiaries are our CM’s confidence.”
‘We don’t make empty promises’
Waving a yellow document with pictures of Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Jana Sena Party (JSP) chief Pawan Kalyan, Jagan said that the 2014 joint promises pamphlet was distributed to every house but the manifesto assurances were ignored after the combine came to power. The CM accused the TDP of even removing the manifesto from the Telugu Desam Party’s (TDP) website.
Jagan accused Naidu of making deceptive promises again with his “Super-6 or Super-10 or whatever” referring to some of the TDP’s assurances made already, like free gas cylinders and free travel for women in the RTC buses. “This is why I call him a habitual offender,” said the CM.
The TDP-JSP-BJP has regrouped again for the 2024 polls and their combined manifesto is expected to be announced soon.
“We cannot compete with Chandrababu’s fraudulent promises, but we can show our commitment to the people. This government is different from the previous one — we don’t make empty promises. We deliver, and that’s our legacy,” Jagan said while reminding people that he did not make excuses and delivered every welfare measure even as the state’s economy suffered for two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“In fact, we delivered over and above the manifesto,” the YSRCP chief said, listing schemes like EBC Nestham (financial assistance for Economically Backward Class women), tabs, coverage expansion under Aarogyasri health insurance and Jagananna Videshi Vidya-deevena (financial assistance for higher education abroad).
The YSRCP 2024 manifesto says that beneficiaries under YSR Cheyutha, EBC and Kapu Nestham schemes for women’s economic empowerment would receive financial aid for another five years. Zero-interest loans, Amma-vodi (Rs 15,000 annually for sending the child to school), Kalyanamasthu-Shaadi tohfa (aid for weddings), housing patta, etc., schemes will also continue.
Highlighting that the state’s social welfare pensions are the highest in the country, Jagan said that he would further hike the current monthly pensions of Rs 3,000 to Rs 3,500 in two phases in his second term.
“But it will be done in January 2028 and 2029 only, as state resources should be enough to support our welfare. I will be in a position then to hike the pensions. I won’t be dishonest about this for the sake of votes,” said the CM.
He further promised to hike the Rythu-bharosa, farmer financial aid, from the current Rs 13,500 per year to Rs 16,000. He also promised an extension of Rs 10,000 Vahana-Mitra aid meant for auto and taxi drivers to lorry and tipper operators.
(Edited by Richa Mishra)
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