VIJAYAWADA: Underscoring the critical importance of grassroots governance ahead of local body elections, Chief Minister and TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu has directed ministers, legislators, and key party functionaries to treat the upcoming polls as a major test of leadership performance, and ensure a sweeping victory for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
Addressing a virtual conference with district party presidents, MPs, MLAs, constituency observers, and key leaders on Sunday, he stated that the electoral outcome should surpass the vote share recorded during the 2024 general elections, which will serve as the primary criterion for evaluating leaders’ performance over the next 50 days without exemptions.
Highlighting candidate selection parameters, Naidu stressed that tickets will be allotted based on winning prospects, honesty, efficiency, and social re-engineering, warning that non-serious efforts or superficial participation by leaders will not be tolerated.
Exhorting the ruling coalition cadre to channel the spirit of the 2024 election victory, he declared that a decisive blow struck by the NDA in the local body polls should force the opposition YSRCP to permanently shutdown.
Asserting that the NDA government holds the moral right to seek votes after fulfilling its key promises, he accused the opposition of repeatedly approaching courts to stall elections, and block statutory reservations for Backward Classes (BCs).
He noted that the government has overcome all legal hurdles, and is conducting polls in compliance with judicial directives.
Reinforcing coalition ethics (mithra dharmam), Naidu ordered the immediate formation of joint coordination committees with alliance partners Jana Sena and BJP at constituency and district levels.
He cautioned legislators against internal friction, and instructed them to respect the sentiments of ground-level workers. Naidu added that he has personally reviewed party cadre across 59 constituencies to align government initiatives seamlessly with NDA activities.
Reviewing governance achievements, Naidu detailed major development milestones, noting that `1.50 lakh crore has been disbursed toward welfare schemes alongside an equivalent scale of infrastructure projects.
Key milestones include fulfilling ‘Super Six’ commitments, inaugurating Bhogapuram Airport, abolishing the garbage tax, launching rural infra drives worth `11,000 crore under ‘Palle Panduga’, and advancing Jal Jeevan Mission projects worth `30,000 crore, he highlighted.
NDA to allot up to 40% seats for BCs
In the housing sector, he highlighted 5 lakh mass house-warming ceremonies, groundbreaking for 3 lakh additional houses, sanctioning `11,359 crore for municipal infrastructure, removing 16.48 lakh acres from the 22A prohibited list, and granting freehold rights worth `52,000 crore to 60,000 beneficiaries.
Targeting the opposition over local body quotas, Naidu slammed the previous regime for slashing BC reservations from 34% to 24%.
He announced that, following the Rajiv Ranjan Mishra Committee report, the coalition will allocate up to 40% of seats to BC candidates party-wise without compromising SC/ST rights. Consequently, the alliance will launch the statewide campaign “Jaya Ho BC... Jananathlo Samam-Kootami Ichindi Balam”.
‘Winning chances main criterion for selection’
Mentioning candidate selection parameters in the local body polls, Chief Minister and TDP supremo Chandrababu Naidu said tickets will be allotted based on winning prospects, honesty, efficiency, and social re-engineering, warning that superficial participation by leaders will not be tolerated