A few days ago, YSRCP president and Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy released his party’s manifesto, seeking another term of rule in Andhra Pradesh. Quite surprisingly, the schemes and freebies offered by Jagan in the latest manifesto didn’t gain much traction among the public because they featured more or less the same policies that were promised prior to the 2019 elections. Even the party supporters and leaders are highly disappointed with the manifesto because, except for the enhancement in the monetary benefits of the existing ‘Navaratnalu’ (9 schemes), it didn’t offer anything concrete on some of the key factors that have been grappling with the state.
Now, all eyes are on the combined manifesto of the alliance partners, the TDP, Janasena, and BJP, which is likely to be out this morning. TDP president Chandra Babu Naidu and Janasena supremo Pawan Kalyan, along with BJP leaders, will announce the manifesto through a press conference. Political analysts opine that the manifesto by the NDA alliance will play a significant role in deciding the outcome of the assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh this time.
Even before the announcement of the election schedule, Chandra Babu Naidu promised to implement a bunch of schemes for different sectors if he was voted to power this time. Some of the significant freebies include an increment of the existing pension from Rs 3000 to Rs 4000 at a time, monthly assistance of Rs 1500 to women, free bus services to women of all age groups, three gas cylinders for each household, and Rs 3000 for unemployed youth every month.
Besides these freebies, Naidu also vowed to release the Mega DSC to fill the long-pending vacancies and also give away 20 lakh jobs to the youth in the next five years. He also promised to continue the existing volunteer system with a salary of Rs 10,000 and also deposit Rs 15,000 for school-going children.
All these promises are going to make a cut in the manifesto, as per reliable reports. Moreover, it is likely to include information about the government’s plans to revive Amaravati as the sole capital of the state. The manifesto may also feature information about shaping up Vizag as an IT hub in the next five years.
Meanwhile, the YSRCP has already started to criticize Naidu’s poll promises as fake and claims that the budget of the state is not sufficient to implement all these freebies in the next five years. They are sending a message to the public that Naidu has a poor track record of implementing his poll promises in the past.
Amidst this backdrop, it would be interesting to see the response of the public to the manifesto of the alliance in Andhra Pradesh.