VIJAYAWADA: Having decided to conduct local body elections by the end of the month, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Wednesday reportedly told ministers and in-charge ministers to be ready to resign if they don’t bag a majority of seats in their respective districts.
Similarly, MLAs won’t be given party tickets in the next election in case of a poor performance in their respective constituencies this time.
“Though the Chief Minister received a survey report indicating that the party’s performance would only improve in the ensuing local body elections, he warned us to be cautious and strive for a much better performance. Otherwise, we have to be prepared to resign immediately after the results of the election are announced,” a minister said after the Cabinet meeting, adding that public representatives from Guntur and Krishna districts (where protests are being held against shifting of the executive capital to Visakhapatnam) also received the same warning.
The minister further said that the Chief Minister discussed the party’s preparedness for the local body elections, and handed over the responsibility for this to the ministers and in-charge ministers.
They were also given the task of resolving clashes within the party, and told to field good candidates. The Chief Minister also insisted that the flow of liquor and cash be curbed ahead of the local body elections.
Expecting that the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) would come into force by March 9 or 10, Jagan reportedly asked the ministers to hold meetings with leaders and cadre of the party to be prepared for the elections.
Members of the Cabinet felt that the Model Code of Conduct would not impact the distribution of house site pattas to the poor, which is scheduled for Ugadi (March 25), as the government has completed all the related work and finalised the list of beneficiaries.