SRIKAKULAM
Revenue Minister and YSRCP candidate for the Srikakulam Assembly constituency, Dharmana Prasada Rao, exuded confidence in the ruling party forming the government again in the State with a comfortable majority, asserting that there is little chance for the transfer of votes among the TDP and its alliance partners, in upcoming elections.
Mr. Prasada Rao, the senior-most Minister in the Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy cabinet, has previously worked in the cabinets of Kotla Vijayabhaskar Reddy, Nedurumalli Janardhan Reddy, and Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy. In an exclusive interview with The Hindu’s K. Srinivasa Rao, he says people were keen to give one more term to Mr. Jagan who won their hearts with the effective implementation of welfare schemes.
What about your party’s winning chances in the elections? Did you find any anti-incumbency, which is normal for any political party after being in power for five years?
Instead of anti-incumbency, we are witnessing a wave of positivity in favour of YSRCP across the State as a result of the effective implementation of welfare schemes that have benefited the downtrodden sections.
People are happy with Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) and other transparent measures in implementing welfare schemes. Corruption-free administration is playing a key role. Apart from the poor people, the government could also satisfy unemployed youth by taking up a massive recruitment drive to fill 4.5 lakh posts, including ward/village secretariats and others.
JSP and BJP, which contested separately in the 2019 elections, joined hands with the TDP this time. Will their combined strength impact YSRCP’s prospects?
We are not afraid of an alliance that does not have a common ideology. Moreover, the infighting among those parties during seat-sharing will benefit YSRCP in all the districts. Their drawbacks will be plus points for YSRCP, which could get a decent majority in ensuing elections. Vote transfer will not be done among those parties with the non-cooperation leaders and cadre of those parties at the ground level.
It seems your three-capital proposal could not become a reality. You also spoke at length in the Assembly about its benefits. Opposition parties say the proposal stalled the administration and development in the entire State. What is your response to this?
The concentrated development approach in united A.P. and the pouring of funds for the progress of Hyderabad has done maximum injustice to the State, which got divided after 2014. That is why the three-capital proposal was mooted to provide equal opportunity for the progress of all three regions.
A.P. would have developed very fast had Chandrababu Naidu made Visakhapatnam the capital then. But, he adopted a commercial and real estate approach by proposing Amaravati region as the capital.
Mr. Chandrababu is responsible for the agony of Amaravati farmers and the stalemate of three capitals, which resulted from the filing of too many cases in the courts of law. Visakhapatnam will be made the executive capital as soon as YSRCP forms the new government.
There is a perception that the YSRCP government gave top priority to welfare without focusing on development. Is it true?
Development does not mean the construction of buildings. Human development is the criterion for progress. Improvement in people’s income sources and living standards are the parameters for development. That is being done perfectly. At the same time, the government is focusing on development too. The construction of Bhogapuram airport, the seaport at Mulapeta and the establishment of medical colleges are live examples.
What do you have to say about Srikakulam politics? YSRCP could not win the Srikakulam MP seat and the Itchapuram and Tekkali MLA seats in the 2019 elections in spite of the voter wave being in favour of the party across the State.
That is why the party is now focusing on a clean sweep in the elections. Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s tour in Tekkali on April 24 will certainly strengthen the ruling party further.
Disturbances within TDP in Srikakulam, Pathapatnam and other areas also indicate that the ruling party gained the upper hand in the district even before the elections. I am sure that YSRCP will have the last laugh in Srikakulam and at the State-level.
Published - April 21, 2024 05:40 am IST
