Tadepalli (Andhra Pradesh) [India], March 7 : Ahead of the second phase of the Parliament Budget Session commencing on March 10, former Chief Minister and YSRCP President YS Jagan Mohan Reddy convened a meeting with the party's Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members and asked them to raise Andhra Pradesh's issues in both the Houses "vociferously."
During the meeting at his Tadepalli Camp Office on Thursday, Jagan provided clear directives to the party MPs on the strategy to adopt and the key issues to raise in both Houses of Parliament, a release said.
He emphasized that there should be no compromise on matters concerning the state's interests and instructed the MPs to address Andhra Pradesh's issues in Parliament vociferously.
The meeting focused on several critical topics, including the Polavaram Project's height, the privatisation of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, support prices for chili farmers, the 'One Nation, One Election' proposal, the privatisation of new medical colleges in the state, and constituency delimitation.
YS Jagan directed the MPs to fight relentlessly on these issues without any compromise.
Regarding the Polavaram Project, which is also deemed the lifeline of Andhra Pradesh, he stressed that its height was a critical factor and criticised the central government's decision to reduce it, calling it detrimental to the state's interests.
He pointed out the failure of the two TDP ministers in the Union Cabinet to oppose this decision, and labelled it deplorable.
YSRCP MPs claimed that despite injustices to the state, TDP MPs have remained silent, acting as mere spectators. They said that YSRCP had proposed a joint effort with TDP MPs, transcending political differences, to meet the Prime Minister and relevant Union Ministers, but TDP MPs "declined" to participate.
YS Jagan instructed the MPs to strongly oppose the privatisation of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, a hard-earned asset of Andhra Pradesh achieved through significant sacrifices, and to exert pressure on the central government to prevent it.
On constituency delimitation, he urged the MPs to seek clarity from the Centre in Parliament, given the ongoing discussions and concerns that southern states might not gain seats proportionally compared to northern states.
Regarding 'One Nation, One Election,' he directed the MPs to demand elections through the ballot system instead of EVMs if simultaneous polls are implemented, citing examples of developed nations reverting to ballots after initially using EVMs.
The MPs raised concerns over the Chandrababu Naidu-led state government's attempts to privatize newly established medical colleges, originally initiated by the YSRCP government to make medical education accessible to the poor and provide advanced healthcare in every district.
YS Jagan instructed the MPs to strongly raise this issue in Parliament, emphasizing that these colleges were built with significant effort to serve the underprivileged, and privatization undermines that objective.
Additionally, the MPs condemned the state government's failure to provide adequate security to YS Jagan, a former Chief Minister with Z+ category protection, citing the lack of police arrangements during his recent visit to the Guntur chili yard as an example. They informed the meeting that this issue had already been brought to the Centre's attention and vowed to pursue it further in Parliament, alleging deliberate attempts to hinder YS Jagan's public interactions.
The meeting was attended by YSRCP Parliamentary Party leader Y.V. Subba Reddy, Lok Sabha party leader Peddireddy Mithun Reddy, Rajya Sabha leader Pilli Subhash Chandra Bose, MPs Gollu Baburao, Alla Ayodhya Rami Reddy, M. Gurumoorthy, Tanuja Rani, Raghunatha Reddy, and party state coordinator Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy.