Hyderabad, October 24: Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy has admitted that he does nurse the ambition of becoming chief minister but only to perpetuate his late father Y S Rajasekhara Reddy’s welfare programmes for the poor. “Is it wrong to aspire to become chief minister to complete the unfulfilled tasks of my late father? If you were in my place, would you act differently?” he asked mediapersons pointedly at a news conference here today.
Indicating that he was getting ready for the rough and tumble of public life, Jagan Mohan said: “I am only 36-years-old and will strive hard to come closer to the people.
If I have their blessings, some day the post will come to me.” He, however, made no bones about his whistle-blower role vis-a-vis the Rosaiah government. Even while saying he would support Rosaiah, he said he and his supporters would keep a close audit on implementation of welfare schemes.
“We, including ministers, MLAs and grassroots Congress workers, will continue to exert pressure on Rosaiah if there is a slackness in implementation of welfare programmes,” Jagan said, but held back from assigning a grade to the former’s 50 days in office for fear of triggering a controversy by implying that he was not satisfied with the chief minister’s performance thus far.
But he was forthright in pointing out that the two pre-poll promises made by his father during the run-up to elections in May — increase in rice quantity from 20 kg to 30 kg per family under the Rs 2-a-kilo rice scheme and increasing free power supply to the agriculture sector from 7 to 9 hours were not being implemented.
–Agencies