Jagan Mohan Reddy seems to have accepted defeat much ahead of 2024 electoral battle, alleges CPI leader

CPI State secretary K. Ramakrishna alleges YSRCP Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has accepted defeat ahead of 2024 elections, with 82 MLAs & Ministers being "dummies".

Communist Party of India (CPI) State secretary K. Ramakrishna has said that Chief Minister and YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy seems to have accepted defeat much ahead of the 2024 electoral battle, if his announcement on the shuffling of 82 sitting MLAs in the State with new candidates is any indication.

Not only the MLAs, even Ministers and Deputy Chief Ministers were converted into dummies by the Chief Minister, Mr. Ramakrishna alleged. “They have no power to attend to the grievances of the people even in their own constituencies, as all the power has been concentrated in the hands of the Chief Minister,” Mr. Ramakrishna alleged at a press conference in the city on Friday.

While it is not unusual for a ruling party to opt for fresh faces in some constituencies — based on the performance and age of the incumbent MLAs — this is perhaps the first time that such a large number of legislators are being shown the door by the ruling party, Mr. Ramakrishna opined. “Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy should own up responsibility for the non-performing MLAs as he chose not to delegate any power and the MLAs are in no position to look into the grievances of the people from their constituencies,” Mr. Ramakrishna alleged.

The CPI veteran alleged that the panchayats were not being granted funds and had no powers. The five Deputy Chief Ministers had little powers, he said, adding that it is an indication of Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s dictatorial attitude. “People of the State are prepared to defeat the YSRCP in the 2024 elections,” he said.

“The Gundlakamma reservoir gate had suffered damage several months ago but the YSRCP government has neglected its repairs, resulting in damage to the second gate as well. Not only major projects, but the government was not even willing to listen to the grievances of small employees and workers also. It is taking a tough stance against Anganwadi and ASHA workers, who are waging struggles for their just demands. The failure of the State government to declare districts as drought-hit has deprived the farmers of compensation,” Mr. Ramakrishna alleged.

Reflecting on the success of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in three out of five States that went to the polls recently, Mr. Ramakrishna opined that it was the domineering attitude of the Congress party which led to discontent among the alliance partners. He said that the CPI national council meeting in Bhubaneswar on December 16 and 17 would discuss at length the election results in the five States.

The INDIA alliance meeting in New Delhi on December 19 will witness detailed discussions on what went wrong and the reasons for the debacle in the three States, and the way forward.