Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Y.S. Sharmila on March 30 (Saturday) exhorted the party leaders and cadres to work sincerely and collectively for the victory of the party nominees in the elections.
Speaking after unveiling the ‘Nine Guarantees’ promised by the party to be propagated during its proposed ‘Gadapa Gadapa ki Congress Party’ programme, Ms. Sharmila said, “History will not forgive us if we do not work for the party’s victory today.”
Amidst a loud applaud, Ms. Sharmila announced the nine welfare schemes designed by the leadership for different sections, and claimed that “the Congress party alone can ensure equal justice for all sections of society.”
The promises
The nine guarantees included grant of Special Category Status (SCS) to Andhra Pradesh for 10 years, a monthly financial assistance of ₹8,500 to women from the under-privileged sections under ‘Mahila Mahalakshi’ scheme, waiver of farmers’ loan of up to ₹2 lakh, implementation of new support price to ensure good remuneration for farmers, payment of ₹400 per day as wages to coolies, free education from KG to PG under the fee reimbursement scheme, immediate steps to fill the 2.25 lakh vacant posts in the State, allotment of a house worth ₹5 lakh in the name of women for the under-privileged sections and a monthly pension of ₹4,000 to every beneficiary and ₹6,000 for the physically challenged persons.
The APCC chief, along with senior party leaders, also released a poster of the party’s proposed nine welfare schemes.
Ms. Sharmila said that the party had received more than 1,500 applications from ticket aspirants for the 175 Assembly and 25 Lok Sabha constituencies.
“Only 200 of them will get the ticket, but that should not stop the others in the race from working for the party’s victory. We all will be working for the country’s progress,” she said, adding that a marathon exercise of discussions had preceded the finalisation of the candidates.
She said the BJP at the Centre was on a destructive trail, and it had been committing mistake after mistake. “People are looking at the Congress with a lot of hope and trust. That is the strength of the Congress party,” she said, and urged the party cadre to reach out to people at the grassroot level and tell them the dire need to bring Congress to power at the Centre.
She said that under the ‘Gadapa Gadapa ki Congress Party’’, partymen should explain to the people about the farce of the ruling YSR Congress Party and the TDP-JSP-BJP alliance, and the fact that the Congress party was above petty politics and had always worked for the larger good of society.
CWC members Gidugu Rudra Raju and N. Raghuveera Reddy, party manifesto committee chairman Pallam Raju, senior leaders C.D. Meyappan and J.D. Seelam, and APCC working presidents were present.
