YSRCP manifesto released: Pension hike, Vizag as executive capital

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and YSRCP president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Saturday released his party's manifesto for the upcoming Lok Sabha and assembly elections in the state. He promised to hike the welfare pensions from Rs 3,000 to Rs 3,500 per month and make Visakhapatnam or Vizag the executive capital.

Giving an account of the promises fulfilled in the past five years, Reddy said his government deposited Rs 2.68 lakh crore directly into beneficiaries' accounts through DBT (direct benefit transfer), and Rs 1.78 lakh crore through non-DBT methods.

He said Rs 4,275 crore and Rs 12,609 have been allocated for the Jagananna Vasati Devana and Jagananna Vidya Deevena schemes, respectively.

Reddy said he would also raise the financial outlay for some schemes such as Amma Vodi, which has been hiked from Rs 15,000 per annum to Rs 17,000. Amma Vodi is a financial aid scheme for mothers who send their children to school.

YSR Rythu Bharosa scheme, which benefits farmers, would be hiked from Rs 13,500 to Rs 16,000 per annum, guaranteeing financial assistance of Rs 80,000 over the next five years.

Reddy vowed that Amaravati would be developed as the legislative capital and Kurnool as the judicial capital.

"Immediately after YSRCP forms the government in 2024, Visakhapatnam will be made the executive capital and the seat of the government. It will be developed as the growth engine of the state," he said.

The chief minister noted that welfare pensions, which are currently at Rs 3,000 per month, will be raised to Rs 3,250 from January 2028 and subsequently to Rs 3,500 from January 2029.

He also promised the creation of special panchayats for Dalits who account for 50 per cent population of a village or 500 households.

MSMEs, which received two incentives in the past five years, will receive them on an annual basis, said Reddy, promising life insurance of Rs 5 lakh to gig workers in organisations such as Swiggy, Zomato, Amazon and others under the YSR Jeevan Bhima scheme.

Further, Reddy promised to complete the Bhogapuram international airport in the next 18 months and assured to finish building the Polavaram Project over the next five years, along with completing the comprehensive resurvey of land, among others.

Delving on jobs, YSRCP chief noted that Group-I, Group-II and other government recruitment examinations would be conducted without fail.

The YSRCP chief insisted that a political party's manifesto assumed its real meaning only in his government, which treated it as a holy book like the Bible, Quran and Bhagavad Gita.

Other initiatives mentioned in the YSRCP manifesto include the allocation of Rs 2,000 crore in the first phase to develop district headquarters as smart cities by laying roads, building parks, drainage and other necessary amenities.

Reddy asserted that his government fulfilled 99 per cent of the party's manifesto promises.

"The issues I witnessed during my padayatra were included in our manifesto. Despite the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic and revenue losses that happened thereafter, we never made any excuses and meticulously executed our manifesto with a smile," he said.

Taking a dig at his predecessor and TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu, Reddy said the YSRCP did not make "empty promises".

"We can't compete with Chandrababu Naidu's fraudulent promises. But we can show our commitment to the people. This government is different from the previous one. We don't make empty promises. We deliver and that's our legacy," he said.

Reacting to YSRCP's manifesto, Naidu said if Reddy had treated his 2019 manifesto as a holy book, then he would have banned liquor.

"You promised to ask for votes only after banning liquor but with what face you have released the 2024 manifesto and asking for votes," Naidu tweeted.

His son and TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh, in a post on X, alleged that if Reddy said something, he would not do it.

Elections for the 175-member Assembly and 25 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh are scheduled on May 13 and the counting of votes will be held on June 4.

(with inputs from PTI)