A record of sorts by YSR On the move

He visited each district 33 times since he assumed office in May 2004 till notification of polls on March 2

Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy

HYDERABAD:

Even as the election campaign by key leaders is yet to gather steam, political parties may find it tough to match the pace of Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy.

Leaders of the other political parties including the main Opposition Telugu Desam and Praja Rajyam are still to get into full-fledged election mode owing to issues like candidate selection that remain unresolved so far. Given the acute shortage of time before the polling day, they may not be able to match Dr. Reddy in the number of tours he has undertaken even before they hit the road.

In the strict sense, Dr. Reddy’s were not party tours, but he managed to reach out to voters in the districts to launch and publicise various schemes of his government. On an average, the Chief Minister visited each district 33 times from the time he assumed office in May 2004 till announcement of the poll schedule on March 2.

What a feat!

According to figures compiled by his office, Dr. Reddy toured the districts 726 times! In effect, he spent a full two years of his five-year-long tenure in one district or the other, maybe not for the full day.

His native district, Kadapa, accounts, perhaps understandably, for the maximum number of 52 visits. Ranga Reddy and Mahbubnagar districts, which provided platforms for launch of a host of welfare schemes, came next with 42 visits each.

Visits to faraway Vizianagaram district were lowest at 22 while Dr. Reddy visited 15 districts spread over the three regions at least 30 times each.

Naidu not behind

Telugu Desam president N. Chandrababu Naidu is the only other Chief Minister to have toured the districts so extensively, especially in the latter half of his almost nine-year stint, thanks to his penchant for conducting surprise visits to check implementation of different programmes.

Congress yet to make headway in seat selection in Andhra Pradesh

YSR, PCC chief throw the ball into Central Election Committee’s court

Intense competition for seats, caste equations involved

Consensus elusive, particularly over Telangana seats

 HYDERABAD:

Unable to reach a consensus on candidates in several Parliamentary constituencies, particularly those in Telangana, Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy and AP Congress Committee president D. Srinivas have thrown the ball into the court of party’s Central Election Committee (CEC).

The preliminary short-listing of candidates for the Lok Sabha seats that was held in the presence of the Central Screening Committee chairman Pranab Mukherjee in two phases, appears to have ended inconclusively.

Intense competition for some seats, complex caste equations and reluctance of sitting members to shift to new constituencies left the committee with no other option than referring the whole exercise to the CEC, which meets on Monday.

“Though the party received a bunch of applications for constituencies like Adilabad, Mahabubabad, Warangal, Malkajgiri, Bhongir, Chevella, Nalgonda, Medak and Zaheerabad, the big question is identifying the right candidate, who can give a tough time to the opposition parties,” a senior Congress leader remarked.

Leaders maintained that candidate selection in constituencies reserved for SCs & STs such as Adilabad, Mahabubabad and Warangal was turning out to be a Herculean task. At the same time, it was also finding it tough to choose nominees for seats such as Nizamabad, Malkajgiri, Bhongir, Zaheerabad and Nalgonda. Informed sources told The Hindu that the euphoria over packing off former Chief Minister N. Janardhan Reddy to Rajya Sabha was shortlived.

Leaders thought the decision would ease the complex seat selection process in Nellore, Prakasam, Guntur and Chittoor districts. But it seems to have created more problems with two Union Ministers Daggubati Purandeswari and Panabaka Lakshmi demanding Ongole and Tirupati (SC) seats respectively.  

YSR extends Holi greetings

HYDERABAD:

Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy has greeted people of the State on the occasion of Holi. In a message on Tuesday, he described it as a “festival of goodwill and kinship. It brings about unity, joy and happiness among people.”

Tiwari, YSR greet Muslims

HYDERABAD:

Governor N. D. Tiwari on Monday greeted Muslims on the occasion of Milad-un-Nabi.

He urged people to cultivate the spirit of love and compassion which constituted the essential message of the Prophet.

Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, conveying his greetings, said the message of universal peace, compassion, tolerance and service to humanity preached by the Prophet was relevant to every generation. In a message from New Delhi, he expressed the government’s resolve to bring all Muslim families, especially the poor, on a par with others.

Praja Rajyam chief K. Chiranjeevi said the Prophet’s message had relevance even today. 

‘If I am too old for politics, so is YSR’

GUNTUR:

Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council Deputy Chairman Mohammed Jani, who had represented the Guntur East (Guntur-I) constituency earlier, staking claim for a party ticket, said that he was not old enough to retire from politics.

“Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy and I am of the same age and if I have to retire from politics because of my age, he also must retire,” said Mr. Jani in response to a question put him during a press conference here on Monday.

Hopeful

Mohammed Jani, who had served as a minister also in the past, on Monday staked claim for Congress ticket from the Assembly constituency and said that party high command knew how much he had served the party and opined that he should be given the ticket.

At a press conference here on Monday, Mr. Jani told reporters that he had applied for the Guntur East party ticket and hoped that Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy would nominate him from the seat.

When reminded him of the Chief Minister’s statement that young blood would be infused into the party this time and that some old-timers had to retire, he said that he would retire when the Chief Minister retires from politics.

YSR brother-in-law’s ultimatum

Aspiring for the Congress ticket since a long time, says Kadapa Mayor

KADAPA:

P. Ravindranath Reddy, Kadapa Mayor and brother-in-law of Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, declared on Monday that he would contest as an independent candidate from Kadapa Assembly constituency if the Congress does not consider his plea for the party ticket.

Asserting that he had been serving the Congress and Dr. Reddy for 32 years, the Mayor at a press conference said that he had been aspiring for the party ticket since long but was denied the same for being YSR’ brother-in-law. He appealed to the Congress leadership to consider his plea on the basis of his services to the Congress.

Thanks corporators

Mr. Ravindranath Reddy said he would contest from Kadapa even if the party initiated disciplinary action against him. Before his announcement, all 43 Congress corporators and six co-opted members in the Municipal Corporation said they would resign in a show of solidarity with Mr. Reddy. Led by Deputy Mayor K. Nabi Rasool, they said they had already submitted resignation letters to the Chief Minister on February 5.

Expressing gratitude to the corporators for their support, he urged them not to quit. If necessary, all Congress corporators and himself would continue as independents in the municipal corporation. Even as an independent in the fray, he and his supporters would strive for the victory of Congress candidate for Kadapa Parliamentary seat Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy.

Asked whether his decision would not embarrass the Chief Minister, Mr. Ravindranath Reddy said

YSR should ensure a party ticket for him to prevent such a situation. Kadapa MLA Mohd. Ahmedullah’s brother and corporator Mohd. Inayathullah, said they were insisting on a ticket for the Mayor, as ‘he was a winning horse’.