Confident of retaining the 151 Assembly seats it won in the 2019 elections in Andhra Pradesh, the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) is focussing on constituencies where there is a possibility of 5% to 10% swing in the forthcoming elections.
Sharing the details of the ruling party’s preparedness for the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections, YSRCP State general secretary Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy said the party had been working to improve its tally.
“The focus is on effective campaign and better election management. Mission 175 is not an off-the-cuff goal. It is based on the effective implementation of welfare schemes across the State. We are winning hands down. This has become evident after the Siddham meetings. We are confident of winning more than 151 seats,” said Mr. Ramakrishna Reddy.
In response to a question, Mr. Ramakrishna Reddy said that the YSRCP had been working consistently in the constituencies where the winning chances were bleak and there had been a considerable change in the public opinion in those constituencies.
“The minority votes are consolidating in favour of the YSRCP as the TDP has joined hands with the BJP. People are wary of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Now, the minorities are looking for a party with secular credentials and the YSRCP is their choice.”
Answering a question on dissatisfaction among the urban voters, Mr. Ramakrishna Reddy said that the YSRCP government implemented welfare schemes in a saturation mode and it includes the urban pockets as well.
“The saturation mode doesn’t mean that urban development was ignored. Of around 33 lakh women beneficiaries in the last five years, 16 lakh have invested the money they got as benefits in businesses. Of this, six lakh women have invested in dairy units. Not just Cheyutha, YSR Aasara has enabled lakhs of Self Help Groups (SHGs) shed their Non Performing Asset (NPA) tags. These measures have made the beneficiaries self-reliant,” he said.
A sharp focus on welfare schemes and Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) has given the impression that the government is emphasising welfare alone. However, the YSRCP government has spent more than the TDP government on urban development. “In fact, the YSRCP government got just three years if two years for COVID-19 management are to be excluded. One can see that there has been a remarkable development even in the Kuppam, the native constituency of national president N. Chandrababu Naidu,” he said.
