VIJAYAWADA: Drawing parallels between the 2024 Assembly elections and the Kurukshetra battle, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Friday said the upcoming polls will be a war between a pro-poor government and the capitalists. He was addressing a huge public gathering at Vidhayapuram in Vijayawada before disbursing Rs 275.93 crore under the fifth tranche of the YSR Vahana Mithra scheme, benefiting 2,75,931 auto, taxi, maxi cab drivers and MDU (mobile dispensing unit) operators. A sum of Rs 10,000 each was directly credited into the bank accounts of the beneficiaries.
Launching a tirade against the Opposition TDP, Jagan said, “The ensuing elections would be a fight between the YSRC government which has strived hard for the development of the poor and the yellow party which deceived them, when it was in power. The battle will be between a party which believes that its manifesto is the Bible, Quran and Bhagavad Gita, and implements 99% of its promises, and a party which treats election promises as a tool to deceive the poor.”
Accusing the previous TDP government of orchestrating skill development, Amaravati inner ring road, fibernet and assigned lands scams during its tenure, the Chief Minister asserted that his government has been implementing welfare schemes without any bias. He added that the ruling YSRC has treated people belonging to the Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), Backward Communities (BCs) and Minorities well and provided 83% jobs to them in village secretariats as against the previous Chandrababu Naidu-led government which humiliated them.
Further, he said the 2024 battle will be between a party that has extended 30.76 lakh house site pattas to the weaker sections and a party that opposed it and moved the courts citing “demographic imbalance”. Charging the previous TDP regime with looting public money and cheating all sections of the society, Jagan said his government has taken administration to people’s doorstep and delivered welfare transparently through a dedicated volunteer and secretariat system.” Urging people to be cautious of the TDP’s “shallow” promises, he added, “I don’t have the support of media, a foster son (referring to Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan) or a gang of thieves. Plundering the State is not my policy.”
Speaking on the Vahana Mithra scheme, Jagan directed the beneficiaries to use the financial aid to ensure their vehicles have fitness certificates and pay insurance on time for the safety of their passengers. Pointing out that the government has so far spent Rs 1,301 crore under the scheme in the past five years, the Chief Minister remarked, “Our government, which is the voice of the voiceless, has disbursed Rs 2.35 lakh crore through direct benefit transfer (DBT) for the welfare of weaker sections, while the previous TDP government pursued the policy of plunder, stash and devour.”
Responding to the appeal of Vijayawada West MLA Vellampalli Srinivas, Jagan sanctioned Rs 7 crore for extending the flood retaining wall in the River Krishna, Rs 3.5 crore for constructing five mosques and funds for building Kapu and Relli community halls, and an SC burial ground.