Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday, May 23, 2019. (PTI Photo)Jaganmohan Reddy was unanimously elected leader of the YSR Congress Legislature Party on Saturday, two days after it registered a thumping victory in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. The party swept the state polls, winning 151 of the 175 legislative Assembly seats. It will also send 22 of the state’s 25 MPs to the Lok Sabha.
With today’s decision, Jagan is set to take oath as Andhra’s new Chief Minister on May 30 in Vijayawada. “In 2019, people voted for us out of faith and belief, in 2024 they should give us a bigger mandate because of our performance,”
After winning the first elections in the state since bifurcation, Jagan had said, “This is the victory of Andhra people over TDP’s corruption and misrule. I dedicate this victory to the people of Andhra.”
The Telugu Desam Party, meanwhile, managed to win only 23 seats in the legislative Assembly and three in the Lok Sabha. The difference in vote share between the two parties, which was less than two per cent in 2014, was more than 10 per cent this time around. While YSRCP got approximately 51 per cent votes, TDP got 38.12 per cent and Jana Sena 8 per.
Explained | How Prashant Kishor, Y S Jagan Reddy outsmarted Naidu in Andhra Pradesh
Ahead of the polls, Jagan had promised to implement ‘Navaratnalu’, or nine welfare gems if elected to power. These include assistance of Rs 50,000 per annum to all farmers; fee reimbursement for all students from Class 1 to graduation; free medical treatment above Rs 1,000 for eligible beneficiaries; ban on alcohol; Rs 15,000 to women to encourage them to send children to school; waivers of all loans taken by women from cooperative societies and interest-free loans of Rs 50,000 to each; Rs 75,000 over four years to all women over 45 years of BC, SC, ST communities; construction of 25 lakh houses over five years; reduction of pension age from 65 to 60; Rs 2,000 per month pension to the poor elderly and Rs 3,000 for the disabled; and completion of Polavaram on a war footing.
