BJP Andhra Pradesh unit president Daggubati Purandeswari has said the party has finalised the list of probable candidates for all 25 Parliamentary and 175 Assembly constituencies in the State and would send it to the party leadership in a few days.
Briefing the media about the party’s two-day election preparedness meeting held in Vijayawada on March 3 (Sunday), Ms. Purandeswari said each constituency has up to five contenders and nearly 2,000 have come forward to contest the elections.
BJP national joint general secretary (organisation) Shiv Prakash elicited the opinions of the leaders from Andhra Pradesh about the candidates and, more importantly, regarding the pros and cons of joining the TDP-Jana Sena Party (JSP) alliance.
She reiterated that the party leadership would decide on the alliance with the TDP-JSP combine sooner than later, until which time the party would consider itself to be in the reckoning for all Parliamentary and Assembly constituencies.
Ms. Purandeswari alleged that the decisions taken by the Modi government at the Centre for the welfare of Backward Classes (BCs) were not being implemented in totality in the State even as Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and YSRCP leaders were making tall claims to have improved the living standards of the communities.
Addressing the BJP cadres after welcoming some industrialists and leaders of various parties from Chittoor, Krishna and NTR districts into the party’s fold, Ms. Purandeswari said that her father and former Chief Minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh N.T. Rama Rao was committed to the uplift of the BCs and had introduced several welfare schemes.
“After NTR, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the only leader who has spared a thought for the welfare of BCs and done justice to them. The OBC Commission would not have got the legal sanctity on the lines of the SC Commission had Mr. Modi not overlooked the need for it,” she said.
The Central government provided tuition fee exemption to BC students in the IITs under the OBC quota, and 27% reservation for those hailing from the communities in Sainik Schools, and did a whole lot of other things that brought a change in their lives. she said.
Ms. Purandeswari said that the Jagan Mohan Reddy government spoke impressively about the socio-economic empowerment of the BCs but did little for them.
BJP State general secretary B. Siva Narayana and others were present.
