VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy is chanting the BC mantra for the 2024 elections in order to consolidate the support of Backward Classes. Towards this, and as part of the party’s Mission 2024, he has floated a YSRC BC cell committee, which will be headed by MLC and prominent BC leader Janga Krishnamurthy. The panel has three vice-presidents, eight zonal in-charges, five general secretaries, 15 secretaries and 10 joint secretaries.
Krishnamurthy, who was very active during the 2019 elections, together with BC leaders drafted the party’s BC Declaration. He played a key role in attracting BCs, the traditional supporters of Telugu Desam, towards the ruling party.
In a similar strategic move, Jagan Mohan Reddy accommodated many BCs in the Cabinet and offered nominated posts to them, including as MPs and MLCs.
Apart from Krishnamurthy (Palnadu), the committee office-bearers include VPs: Dola Jagan (Srikakulam), Kandru Kamala (Mangalagiri) and Bathala Hari Prasad (Sri Sathya Sai); In-charges-Zone-1: Dharmana Krishna Chaithanya (Srikakulam), zone-2: Thulli Chandrasekhar Rao (Visakhapatnam), zone-3: Alli Raja Babu (Kakinada), zone-4: Kasagoni Durgarao Gowd (NTR), zone-5: Botla Rama Rao (Prakasam), zone-6: Thodamalla Pullaiah (Tirupati), zone-7: Golla Nagaraju Yadav (Kurnool) and zone-8 in-charge Ramesh Gowd from Anantapur.
The Chief Minister has time and again reiterated that his government has given a lion's share of seats, positions and opportunities to BCs and other weaker sections, percolating down to mayors, chairpersons of ZPs, corporations, temple trust boards and sarpanchs.
Meanwhile, YSRC sources stated that with elections round the corner, Jagan Mohan Reddy is concentrating on BCs as they are the deciding factors in all 175 seats. They said that it was Jogan Mohan Reddy, who offered Rajya Sabha seats BCs, something which the TD never did, despite the party enjoying BCs support since its inception.
Ministers Ch. Srinivasa Venugopala Krishna and Ambati Rambabu said that BCs are with YSRC due to the state government welfare and development activities aimed at the betterment of BCs.
