Members of the United Forum for Democracy emphasised the need to make public issues the primary agenda in the manifestos of political parties for the upcoming general elections. At a press conference in Vijayawada on Sunday, the forum’s State convener Muhammad Zahid, co-conveners and State committee members released a ‘public manifesto’.
One of the co-conveners, also an advocate at the Andhra Pradesh High Court P. Srinivas, expressed concern over what he called the ‘current dangerous trends in politics’ and said that the parties in the poll fray only sought power while neglecting the glaring issues faced by the masses.
Referring to the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), he said that the national parties had divided and deceived the people of the State. He then turned the heat on the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) and the TDP-JSP alliance and said that while one was officially allied with the BJP, the other (YSRCP) had been extending support externally.
Mr. Srinivas said that the forum’s public manifesto delineated the actual aspirations of people, and demanded that the political parties include these key issues in their respective party manifestos.
‘Exercise voting rights’
Another co-convenor, advocate Abdul Mateen, highlighted that the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced that citizens could register their names in the voter list till April 15, while urging people to utilise this opportunity and ensure that they exercise their franchise in the forthcoming election.
Co-convenor Akbar Basha, members D.B. Satyanarayana, Srinivas, Mushahid Baig and others were also present.
