AP: 60 per cent MLC candidates from BCs
MLC Candidate Karri Padmasri greets Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy after her candidature for MLC was announced on Monday.
VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister and YSR Congress chief Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has called upon the candidates for MLC polls to reach out to every house to inform the people as to how the party accorded top priority to social justice in the past nearly four years of its rule.
The chief minister finalised the names of 18 nominees for the MLC polls in categories like local bodies, MLAs and Governor constituencies. Out of these, 14 nominees are from SC, ST, BC minorities while the remaining four belonged to other communities.
Jagan Mohan Reddy said that never before had such attempts at ensuring social justice been made in the selection of nominees for the AP Legislative Council.
He said MLCs from socially disadvantaged groups would be able to raise the voice of their communities in the legislature and get their problems resolved.
The chief minister urged all the nominees to work hard to strengthen the YSRC and be active in all the party programmes. Such a move was so essential especially in the backdrop of a section of the media taking up a “misinformation campaign” against his government.
Noting that AP would go to polls in about 14 months, the CM asked MLC nominees to think as to what they could do for the development of the party.
Referring to the YSRC target of winning all the 175 Assembly seats in the next polls, the CM asked the candidates to work in that direction. Criticising the TD chief Chandrababu Naidu for claiming that he had done a lot for the BCs, the CM said the present government was providing opportunities to social groups like Vaddi and Vaddera communities. He promised to take care of the Rajakas, Nayi Brahmins etc in the near future.
Notably, Jagan Mohan Reddy has accorded top priority for BCs in the allotment of MLC seats as part of his socio-political strategy to woo the BCs and consolidate the BC vote bank to ensure the party’s return to power in the 2024 hustings. Out of 18 nominees, 11 hail from BC communities, two from SCs and one from ST. The remaining four are from OCs.
YSR Congress general-secretary Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy said the CM was committed not only to the cause of empowering the people by giving them positions but also involving them in the governance. “With the selection of 18 nominees to become MLCs, the Legislative Council would be having 19 BCs, six SCs, one ST, four minorities and 14 OCs,” Sajjala said.
He said the representation of BC, SC, ST and minorities in the council would be 68.18 per cent and OCs 31.80 per cent.
Sajjala said that while the YSR Congress strength was 31 in the council before issuing of the poll notification, it would go up to 44 including those whose names were proposed under various categories like MLAs, local bodies and Governor quota.
The names of MLC candidates finalised by the YSR Congress chief and CM Jagan Mohan Reddy include the following:
Local bodies quota: Narthu Rama Rao, BC, Ichapuram, Srikakulam; Kudupudi Suryanarayana, BC, Amalapuram, East Godavari; Vanka Raveendranath, OC, Tanuku, West Godavari; Kavuru Srinivas, BC, Palacole, West Godavari; Merugu Muralidhar, SC, Gudur, Nellore; Sipayi Subrahmanyam, BC, Srikalahasthi, Chittoor; Ponnapureddy Ramsubbareddy, OC Jammalamadugu, YSR Kadapa; A. Madhusudhan, BC, Adoni, Kurnool and S. Mangamma, BC, Penugonda, Anantapur.
Those from MLA quota include: V.V. Surya Narayan Raju Penumatsa, OC, Nellimarla, Vizianagaram; Pothula Sunitha, BC, Chirala, Baptala; Kola Guruvulu, BC, Visakha South, Visakhapatnam; Bommi Israel, SC, Amalapuram, BR Ambedkar Konaseema; Jayamangala Venkataramana, BC, Kaikalur, Eluru; Chandragiri Yesuratnam, BC, Guntur West, Guntur; and Marri Rajasekhar, OC, Chilakaluripeta, Palnadu.
The candidates proposed for Governor quota are Kumbha Ravibabu, ST, Araku, Alluri Sitharama Raju; and Karri Padmasri, BC, Kakinada City, Kakinada.
