Jagan fortifies support, leaves Oppn in shambles
Known for asserting himself with lot of confidence, Reddy’s two years in office also witnessed several controversies like sacking then State Election Commissioner Nimagadda Ramesh Kumar, abolition of State Legislative Council
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Visakhapatnam ARMED with a brute majority in the Legislative Assembly, the YSR Congress Party Government has consolidated its vote bank by launching a series of populist schemes as per the Navaratnalu-the promise of nine schemes made during the Praja Sankalpa Yatra by party supremo YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.
The rise in his support base has left the opposition parties in tatters. Popularly called Jagan, he completed two years in office on May 30 after a string of successes in local body elections and springing a surprise by deciding to trifurcate the capital by making Visakhapatnam the executive capital, Amaravati the legislative capital and Kurnool the judicial capital.
Known for asserting himself with lot of confidence, Reddy's two years in office also witnessed several controversies like sacking then State Election Commissioner Nimagadda Ramesh Kumar, abolition of State Legislative Council where TDP had majority when it took a decision to refer the bill to form three capitals to a Select Committee and lodging a complaint with a plea not to make then Supreme Court Judge Justice NV Ramana Chief Justice of India for his alleged role in influencing the AP High Court judges to deliver orders to embarrass the State Government. The complaint was later rejected by the apex court.
Jagan steered his party to a spectacular win in Assembly and Lok Sabha elections after undertaking a Statewide padayatra traversing 3,648 km on foot in 341 days from Idupulapaya, his native place in YSR Kadapa district to Ichapuram in Srikakulam addressing wayside meetings attacking TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu for indulging in corruption, nepotism and his failure in extending loan waiver as promised in 2014 elections post-bifurcation.
"Our leader Jagan's popularity is on the rise as the support base of YSRCP is getting consolidated due to welfare-centric policies. Within two years our charismatic leader has implemented almost all the promises made by him during the electioneering," Minister for Municipal Administration Botcha Satyanarayana said, commenting on completion of two years in office.
The party, which promised Special Category Status to AP due to unscientific division, however, failed to pressurise the NDA Government as contrary to the expectation, the BJP on its own got an absolute majority in the Lok Sabha polls.
A major challenge being faced by the State is the depleting finances and Centre's failure to release funds to Polavaram and other mega projects as per the promises made in the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014. Investment flow into the State is also not that encouraging except signing of some agreements due to the long spell of Covid-19 pandemic.
