The ruling YSR Congress Party, which has made a head start in nurturing and empowering the coalition of various social groups, is set to consolidate it by setting up 54 BC corporations, an unprecedented move in the history of the State.
Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy is expected to finalise the names of chairpersons and directors of the corporations in the next few days. The exercise to appoint the chairpersons began a month ago with senior leaders holding many meetings and screening the names of aspirants.
With this move, the party is set to lay the foundation for a social base that could benefit the party in the long run.
The constitution of the Cabinet in June 2019, gave a fair indication of the early moves of Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy to weave around a social coalition that has not only helped the party storm into power but also decimate the Telugu Desam Party.
Distinct identity
Mr. Jagan’s choice of a Dalit woman leader — Mekathoti Sucharita — as Home Minister, and choosing leaders from the BC, minority and ST communities as Deputy Chief Ministers and filling of two vacancies, arising out of two Ministers being elected as members of the Rajya Sabha, with two BC leaders, is a fair indication of the ideological thread with which could string its political fortunes.
“Our party has always believed in social, political and economical empowerment of BCs, SCs and STs. If you look at some of the BC communities, many even do not know their names and we want to give a distinct identity to each community and empower them. These corporations will be given funds with which they can offer loans to entrepreneurs, grants to students and financial inclusion packages,’’ said Advisor (Public Affairs) Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy.
