Y.S Jaganmohan Reddy was sworn in the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh at the Indira Gandhi Municipal Stadium here on Thursday afternoon at a ceremony attended by Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhara Rao and DMK leader M.K Stalin as guests of honour.
Anhdra Pradesh Governor Narasimhan administered the oath of office and secrecy to Y.S Jaganmohan Reddy. Later, after seeing off the Governor, the religious heads of Hinduism, Islam and Christianity blessed the Chief Minister. In his brief message, M.K Stalin congratulated Jaganmohan Reddy and expressed the confidence that he would live up to his father's (the late Dr. Y.S Rajasekhara Reddy's) legacy.
KCR’s support
Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhara Rao said it was a historic occasion for the people of the two Telugu states and also the Telugu-speaking people all over the world. He said Y.S Jaganmohan Reddy had proved his mettle over the past nine to ten years and he would provide clean and efficient administration in Andhra Pradesh. It would also usher in an era of co-operation, not confrontation, between the Telugu states, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. He said the full utilisation of Godavari waters was the first priority of the Jaganmohan Reddy Government as well as the Telangana Government. He said the Telangana people as well as the Telangana Government would fully co-operate with the new Government and extend all help, to the mutual benefit of both Telugu states. He blessed Jaganmohan Reddy and expressed the hope that he would remain the Chief Minister for the next three to four terms.
In his response, the new Chief Minister thanked the guests - KCR and M.K Stalin - for their kind words and then expressed his gratitude to the people of Andhra Pradesh for giving him a massive mandate - 151 out of 175 Assembly seats and 22 out of 25 Lok Sabha seats. He promised the people that he would provide clean, corruption-free administration.
He appended his first signature on the file hiking the pension for the aged from the present Rs 2,000 to Rs 2,250 per month and said it would be gradually enhanced to Rs 3,000 per month over the next few years. The enhanced pension would come into effect from June itself, he added.
"The two-page manifesto issued by the YSR Congress Party is to me the Bhagavadgita, the Bible and the Koran. Every word of it will be honoured, I assure you," he told the people.
Services to rural people
He said in every village for every 50 houses a "grama volunteer" would be appointed with a salary of Rs 5,000 per month. A village secretariat would be set up in each village, with jobs for ten local youths. These volunteers and secretariat employees would provide services to the rural people and all government schemes would be provided through them. "When the Telugu Desam was in power, the Janmabhoomi committees used to play havoc in the villages and the entire administration was corrupt from top to bottom. I shall cleanse the whole system," he promised the people.
He said more than five lakh jobs would be created in the villages with these steps and a call centre would be set up, directly linked to the Chief Minister's office, to address any complaints.
Drive against corruption
He said all the suspicious contracts given by the TDP Government would be reviewed and through the process of reverse tendering the corruption of the TDP Government would be exposed. A judicial commission would be set up with a sitting HC judge and all contracts would be submitted to him and all changes suggested by him would be incorporated.
He also issued a warning to "the yellow media in the State" - newspapers and TV channels favourable to the Telugu Desam Party - that if they distort news and misrepresent the facts defamation suits would be filed against them. He named the largest circulated Telugu daily, another Telugu daily and a prominent Telugu TV channel and publicly warned them.
He said his Government would live up to the expectations of the people and implement "Navaratnalu" (nine gems or nine promises made in the YSR Congress manifesto) in letter and spirit.