The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took a significant step towards the 2019 elections in Andhra Pradesh (A.P.) on Wednesday by constituting a committee for preparing the election manifesto.
Mahila Morcha national in-charge Daggubati Purandeswari has been appointed its chairperson and former Chief Secretary I.Y.R. Krishna Rao the convener, according to a press release by BJP State president Kanna Lakshminarayana.
The committee has nine members: P.V.N. Madhav (MLC), P. Vijaya Babu, Dasari Srinivasulu, Shaik Mastan, Paka Satyanarayana, K. Kapileswaraiah, P. Sanyasi Raju, Sudheesh Rambhotla and Prof. D.A.R. Subrahmanyam. With this, the BJP is going to concentrate on giving its strategy for the general elections a concrete shape against the backdrop of its intention to contest on its own. Mr. Lakshminarayana has already held discussions on the way forward with his party’s national leaders. The BJP leaders have so far maintained that the party is against forging alliances after its break-up with the TDP in March 2018.
Welfare agenda
It may be noted that Mr. Lakshminarayana has hinted at top priority being given to farmers’ welfare and poverty alleviation after the party’s just-concluded national executive meeting in New Delhi.
Accordingly, the BJP will have a slew of populist schemes on top of its agenda as it prepares to take on the TDP and YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) which is in an upbeat mood over the successful completion of Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s ‘Praja Sankalpam Padayatra.’
The manifesto will also throw light on what the Central government has done for A.P. post-bifurcation in the face of an intensified campaign by the TDP that it cheated the people by going back on its promise to give the Special Category Status (SCS) and remaining tight-fisted as far as financial assistance is concerned.
A committee member told The Hindu that the manifesto will dwell on the funds given for Amaravati and other projects and unveil its plans for the agriculture sector. The basic objective of the document will be to tell people why they should once again vote for the BJP.
