By Mohammed Shafeeq Amaravati, 21 August : Although the TRS government in Telangana is battling BJP politically in the current dispute over freebies, the Y.S.Jagan Mohanreddy’s YSRCP government in Andhra Pradesh is keen to engage in a legal fight.
The YSRCP has filed a petition to establish itself as a participant in an appeal in the Supreme Court that is considering negative consequences of freebies.
The political stances of the ruling parties in both Telugu states are centered around welfare plans.Both Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) have launched a myriad of schemes that benefit economically and socially backward segments of the population.
K.Chandrasekhar Rao’s TRS government justifies its position by arguing that since 80 % of Telangana’s population is comprised of those who are weaker and backward they require assistance in the form of welfare measures.
Political analysts have pointed out the fact that Jagan Mohan Reddy floated YSRCP on the basis of welfarism.He had stated that he would usher in “Rajanna Rajyam” which refers to the reign of his father, Y.S.Rajasekhara Reddy, who was often referred to as YSR.In his capacity as the chief minister of the united Andhra Pradesh between 2004 and 2009, YSR introduced several path-breaking welfare programs, such as free electricity to farmers, health insurance for the poor, and fee reimbursement.
Political analyst P.Raghavendra Reddy pointed that the main reason for the success of both TRS and YSRCP are welfare programs.”The Prime Minister’s announcement on the subject will not be a hit with the two political parties in the power in the Telugu states.Although KCR has taken a tough position, Jagan too, whose model of governance is based on welfare schemes, has no choice other than to criticize the Prime Minister’s remarks,” he said.
The YSRCP got the massive mandate in 2019 on the basis of “Nava Ratnalu” or nine gems as the party referred to its pledge of welfare programmes.
Jagan Mohan Reddy claimed that he had completed 95 percent of the promises made during the election by implementing welfare schemes to different segments.He recently stated that in the three years since his government came into office, he gave out the sum of the equivalent of 1.62 lakh crore in various schemes.
The ongoing debate about freebies has put the spotlight on the money being given to welfare schemes under the YSRCP government.
In 2021-22 the government credited 55,000 crore in Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) and also spent 17305 crore in non-DBT schemes.
The Jagan Mohan Reddy government was criticized from a few quarters over the welfare programs despite the fragile financial situation of the state as well as the mounting debts.
Similar to TRS in the state adjacent to, YSRCP is also looking to utilize welfare programs to secure another term in the throne.At the YSRCP plenary last month Jagan Mohan Reddy said that the welfare programs being implemented by his government will be stopped should the YSR Congress lost power in the 2024 general election.
The YSRCP chief said that a vote in Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP) is a vote against the welfare programs.He encouraged his party’s ranks and members to inform the masses about this.
In the midst of the ongoing debate, YSRCP Parliamentary party leader V.Vijaya Sai Reddy declared last week that the programs that the state government offers are not freebies but rather’social investment’.He said it was an investment in the future.
It’s in the context of this that YSRCP submitted an affidavit in the Supreme Court pleading to be added as an additional party to the petition to prohibit political parties announcing freebies in the election campaign.
BJP the leader and advocate Ashwini Upadhyay has filed the petition seeking an order to seize the emblem or remove a political group which promises “irrational freebies” prior to elections.
YSRCP believes that nothing can be described as freebies since elected governments have the obligation to implement plans to alleviate poverty, provide education, healthcare and employment.
The party is of the opinion that programs that are designed solely to attract voters should be referred to as freebies, however painting schemes of immense socio-economic significance that are implemented to ease the burden of the present with the same brush a slap in the face to the constitutional authority.
It was not easy to stop certain state programs being referred to as freebies.”The Andhra Pradesh state government programs, such as Ammavodi, Rythu Bharosa, etc.have been called freebies.In complete disregard of the goal or the impact of these programs they are called populist measures” YSRCP said in its declaration of fact.
The party stated in its affidavit, that it is true that there are political parties that create and present programs to reap political benefits and demanded a stern rebuke against these political parties since it will stop political parties from acting irresponsibly.
“On the other side, there are political parties who have designed plans after careful considerations and with complete clarity about the objectives of these programmes.They have made promises to the electorate prior to elections, and are implementing those pledged programmes following their election with the utmost integrity despite numerous obstacles.
These political parties are pursuing their goals with an agenda that is that is not without merit.of merit.In this situation it is unjust to generalize and define the welfare programs as freebies.” the report added.
“Elected governments should be given the flexibility to develop interventions and decide on their size and the time frame for the duration for which they (the programs) will be implemented to get the desired socio-economic result.This is due to the fact that the elected representatives are the ones who have a clear understanding of the current state of anxiety and the actual causes behind it,” the affidavit stated.
The YSRCP also informed the Supreme Court that the state bifurcation in 2014 had caused widespread economic hardship in the new state of Andhra Pradesh, and due to the unjust restructuring the successor state received the 58 percent of the population of the state however only 45 per cent of the total state’s revenue.Furthermore, the lack of policy clarity in the state in 2014-19 led to a decline in several crucial sectors, like education, health and agriculture, which showed poor performance.
Hence, it was crucial that the new administration, in which the citizens have placed their faith put in place effective programmes to ease the burden.
The YSRCP asserts that it is not appropriate to look at the policies of the governments that have been formulated in respect to the fundamental principles of governance, as outlined in the Fourth Part of the Constitution of India, in areas like education, health, woman empowerment and housing, as well as agriculture as well as poverty alleviation and assistance to the elderly and in need as freebies.
ms/dpb
