YSR Congress Dharna Against "TDP Failures"

To protest the indifference of the TDP government in Andhra Pradesh towards farmers, women's groups and pensioners, and its failure in providing adequate relief to people affected by Cyclone Hudhud, the YSR Congress will hold state-wide dharnas at all mandal headquarters on November 5.

"The dharnas are to highlight the failures of the TDP government in meeting its commitment to waive the loans of farmers and women's groups and in implementing the pension scheme as promised during the electioneering, and the inefficiency of the State in addressing the cyclone-affected people," Party president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy told reporters on Tuesday.

"The dharnas will be held in the first week for three months to mount pressure on the State government that is trying to deceive the people by talking tall and drastically downsizing the budgetary allocations for the welfare schemes. On December 5, the second dharna programme will be at all the District Collector offices, and in January the programme will be intensified, with a 2-day hunger strike in the Godavari districts on January 6-7 in which I will participate," he said.

The protest programmes will highlight the fact that after nearly six months of taking over the reins of the State, not a single poll promise had been fulfilled by Chandrababu Naidu, with farmers, women, students and all other sections left in the lurch, Jagan said.

Jagan also said that the YSR Congress Party stand on the Srisailam project had been very clear, and strongly favoured maintaining the 854 feet level at the reservoir which ensured water to the Pothireddypadu project and water to Rayalaseema.

The Chief Ministers of both the States had exploited the waters, and had no concern for the arid Rayalaseema region, he alleged.

On the Party affairs in Telangana, he said, "We have a working president for Telangana, and he has been doing his job by taking up public issues at various forums."

There was a power deficit in Telangana, and the Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had purchased 1,000 MW of power from Chhattisgarh, but it would yield no immediate relief as there was no way of transmission, he stated. It would take 2-3 years to develop the infrastructure. Instead, if the power purchased from Chhattisgarh were swapped with the NTPC, the same quantum of power could be drawn from Ramagundam in lieu of the deal, he said.

The same was the case with the second phase of the Simhadri thermal power plant, he added. (INN)