TDP resorting to slander, Charges Lok Satta (Telugu)

TDP resorting to slander, Charges Lok Satta

"We are not surprised by the Telugu Desam Party resorting to slander against our founder President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan", asserted the Lok Satta Party today.

"Parties and forces which ignored and ridiculed us initially are now hitting below our belt as anticipated by us, testifying to the momentum we have gained in the 2009 elections," commented party spokesman Smt G.Pratibha Rao, Katari Srinivasa Rao, Laxman Balaji, Raja Reddy, Vijayendar Reddy and N. Saroja Devi briefed the media today responding to TDP's outburst.

Interacting with the media, they said, "We can understand TDP's frustration over its failure to come to power although it mounted Himalayan efforts. Instead of honestly introspecting, it initially sought to blame other parties and electronic voting machines for its debacle. When its convoluted arguments did not cut ice, It is now attempting to make baseless allegations against Dr. JP."

The Party spokespersons recalled that Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan had launched the Lok Satta Party in 2006 believing that people's lives cannot be transformed unless politics was unshackled from dynastic families, which have turned the noble profession into a lucrative business enterprise. Within a short span of less than three years, the Lok Satta has captured the minds of millions of people all over the State with its clear-cut ideology, practicable program, integrity, sincerity, commitment and competence of its leader Dr. JP to rewrite the grammar of politics.

"We feel humbled by the faith the voters reposed in us spurning irresistible inducements like liquor and money here and now and cash transfers and color televisions in future. We are sorry that we have not been able to translate the unparalleled people's support into votes because of our organizational weaknesses and resource constraints. Instead of blaming others or stars for our performance, we have decided to overcome our weaknesses and make the Lok Satta the driver of politics in the months and years to come."

The Lok Satta Party, they recalled, had offered to join hands with any party, which was prepared to abjure use of liquor and money to induce voters and fielding of candidates with criminal antecedents. Not even one party including the TDP had paid even lip sympathy to our criteria leave alone abiding by them. It was only then the Lok Satta chose to contest the 2009 elections on its own. There was no reason d'etre for the Lok Satta if it were to align with any of the traditional parties, which were not prepared to change a wee bit and were committed only to pursuing politics of corruption.

Refuting TDP charges, they said that the Lok Satta was the only party, which functioned democratically and transparently. Its income and expenditure could be accessed by anybody on the Internet. It was so poor that the expenditure incurred by the party and all its candidates in the elections was less than half of what a traditional party candidate spent in one parliamentary constituency.

Lok Satta spokespersons pointed out that Dr. JP had resigned from the National Advisory Council before launching the party. He did indeed meet the Prime Minister and the UPA Chairperson when he took part in NAC meetings. Lok Satta leaders have excellent personal relationships with all leaders including LK Advani, Arun Jaitely, Venkaiah Naidu, as well as leaders of all political parties in the state. Lok Satta believes that we all belong to one country and we have the common obective of transforming the lives of our people. But to attribute ulterior motives to cordial relations and ordinary courtesies was nothing but an attempt at character assassination.

Dwakra Women's Request to Dr.JP

Lok Satta launches Project 2014 (Telugu)

Lok Satta launches Project 2014

The Lok Satta Party is launching Project 2014 with a view to coming to power in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections and transforming politics and people’s lives. Lok Satta is the only authentic and credible alternative to the politics of corruption and incompetence prevailing now. Among traditional, vote-buying, family - controlled parties, it doesnot matter which party is in power. Nothing changes in people’s lives as long as these parties are elected to office. Plunder, family rule, populism and poverty of ideas are their hallmarks. Perpetuation of poverty is the sad result of their failed policies and poor governance. Lok Satta alone has the will and clarity to transform politics, eradicate poverty and give power to people.

Announcing this at a media conference here today, Lok Satta Party President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan said that the party is going in for a massive restructuring to reflect the changed ground realities. The Lok Satta Party had generated tremendous enthusiasm and support for the party in sections like the elite, middle classes, youth and women in the 2009 elections. The party, however, could not translate the support into vote because of organizational and resource constraints.

At a three-day brainstorming session, the party reviewed its strengths and weaknesses and decided to restructure itself by overhauling membership criteria and co-opting people of integrity and with leadership qualities.

Dr. JP announced that pending the membership drive and elections afresh, all the elected committees now in place would become ad hoc committees. They would be restructured following a detailed district-wise review.

Dr. JP disclosed that hereafter there would be three types of members: Associate members who pay Rs.2 for admission, primary members who pay Rs.25 for three years and executive members who pay Rs.100 per month. Executive members will be eligible to contest elections within the party. The party will confer honorary membership on opinion makers who have standing in society and are eager to work for changing politics and transforming people’s lives.

Dr. JP asserted that the Lok Satta is supremely confident of coming to power in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation elections because, unlike in elections to the Assembly and the Lok Sabha, there won’t be caste-wise polarization of voters nor will there be tactical voting. In addition, the voters would be interested in electing a party that has a clear-cit agenda and competence to solve their day-to-day problems.

The Lok Satta Party’s agenda is unparalleled in that it will straightway devolve Rs.2 crore on each divisional committee from the corporation’s resources to enable it to identify and resolve the people’s immediate needs. It will strive to persuade the State Government to make a per capita grant of Rs.1000 to each divisional committee. The divisional committees will be elected by people. The party will ensure merger of Metro Water Board and the Urban Development Authority with the Municipal Corporation for effective coordination among different authorities and speedy solution to problems pending for many, many years.

The Lok Satta will come up with a division-wise agenda with definite time schedules for implementation. Some problems will be resolved in 100 days, some in one year and some others in five years.

Loksatta Discussions Finished

Courtesy: Eenadu

Only 10% of supporters votes polled !!

Courtesy: Eenadu

Loksatta Condemns Attack on Sakshi Reporters

Tholi Paryatanalo Akattukunna JP

Courtesy: Eenadu

200 Karwan youth join Lok Satta Party (Telugu)

200 Karwan youth join Lok Satta Party

About 200 youth belonging to Karwan Assembly constituency today joined the Lok Satta Party in the presence of party President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan. They were led by Mr. Manik Prabhu, Mr. P. V. Rao and Mr. Paramesh Kumar.

Addressing the gathering, Dr. JP called upon the youth to utilize the Lok Satta forum for contesting the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation elections. The Lok Satta Party alone is committed to ensuring equal opportunities to every child irrespective of its caste and religion to realize its potential.

Dr. JP pointed out that for traditional parties politics begin and end with elections while the Lok Satta concerns itself with what happens in between elections also.

Mr. Nandipeta Ravinder, President, Greater Hyderabad Lok Satta unit, Mr.Dasari Ratnam, State Yuva Satta President, Mr. Ravinder Reddy and others took part in the meeting.

No.of Votes Secured by Loksatta MLA Candidates

S.No	District	Assembly Constituency	Candidate	Votes
1	Adilabad	Sirpur	Dubbula Janardhan	1769
2	Adilabad	Chennuru (SC)	Saroja Mekala	2771
3	Adilabad	Bellampalle(SC)	Not Contested	none
4	Adilabad	Mancherial	Thammadi Srinivas	3824
5	Adilabad	Asifabad (ST)	Not Contested	none
6	Adilabad	Khanapur(ST)	Not Contested	none
7	Adilabad	Adilabad	Not Contested	none
8	Adilabad	Boath (ST)	Not Contested	none
9	Adilabad	Nirmal	Ponduri Narsa Reddy	1305
10	Adilabad	Mudhole	Not Contested	none
11	Nizamabad	Armoor	Bokkena Krishna	1824
12	Nizamabad	Bodhan	Jameel Ahmed	1372
13	Nizamabad	Jukkal (SC)	A.K.Latha	1248
14	Nizamabad	Bansvada	K.Geeta murthy	1280
15	Nizamabad	Yellareddy	Dr Marri Ram Reddy	2219
16	Nizamabad	Kamareddy	Pratap Sivaratri	2109
17	Nizamabad	Nizamabad (Urban)	D.Sekhar	1003
18	Nizamabad	Nizamabad (Rural)	Banoth Biloji Nayak	2586
19	Nizamabad	Balkonda	Navin Reddy Kyatham	2401
20	Karimnagar	Korutla	Dr.Muthyala Venkat Reddy	1539
21	Karimnagar	Jagithyala	Menneni Vidya Sagara Rao	1513
22	Karimnagar	Dharmapuri(SC)	Maddela Ravindar	3591
23	Karimnagar	Ramagundam	Tangada Anil Kumar	2333
24	Karimnagar	Manthani	Odela Sampath	1817
25	Karimnagar	Peddapalli	Madasu Srinivasa Rao	1786
26	Karimnagar	Karimnagar	Lenkala Raja Reddy	2714
27	Karimnagar	Choppadandi (SC)	Thodeti Babu	1340
28	Karimnagar	Vemulavada	Not Contested	none
29	Karimnagar	Sirisilla	Ranganayakula Santhosh Babu	1237
30	Karimnagar	Maanakonduru (SC)	Not Contested	none
31	Karimnagar	Huzurabad	Kinnera Shyam Sundar	1778
32	Karimnagar	Husnabad	Thatikonda Jaipal Reddy	1410
33	Medak	Siddipet	Thummanapally Srinivas	1770
34	Medak	Medak	Karnam Soujanya	1207
35	Medak	Narayankhed	M.D.Ulfath Ali	1131
36	Medak	Andole (SC)	Not Contested	none
37	Medak	Narsapur	Kammari Srinivasachari	2699
38	Medak	Zahirabad(SC)	Dr.I.Prathap Kumar	1261
39	Medak	Sangareddy	Patolla Madhava Reddy	1581
40	Medak	Patancheru	Dasugari Satyanarayana Goud (Satish)	7000
41	Medak	Dubbaka	Geedipally Prabhakar Reddy	1263
42	Medak	Gajvel	Bandaru Rammohan Rao	1619
43	Rangareddy	Medchal	Tallapally Shivakumar	5947
44	Rangareddy	Malkajgiri	Kancherla Dharmareddy	20024
45	Rangareddy	Quthbullapur	Nandipeta Ravinder	10060
46	Rangareddy	Kukatpalli	Dr.Jayaprakash Narayan	71703
47	Rangareddy	Uppal	M.Jashwant Reddy	15892
48	Rangareddy	Ibrahimpatnam	Muthyala Rajasekhar Rao	1804
49	Rangareddy	Lalbahadurnagar	Anugu Ramarao	21363
50	Rangareddy	Maheswaram	Kottam Jangaiah Yadav	7181
51	Rangareddy	Rajendra Nagar	Solkar Reddy	2984
52	Rangareddy	Serilingampalli	Katari Srinivasa Rao	27326
53	Rangareddy	Chevella (SC)	Gajulagudem Chandaraiah	1259
54	Rangareddy	Parigi	K.Satyanarayana Reddy	567
55	Rangareddy	Vikarabad (SC)	Thimmamolla Venkatesh	1353
56	Rangareddy	Thandur	Kavali Venkatesham	393
57	Hyderabad	Musheerabad	Parsa Rohit Kumar	13445
58	Hyderabad	Malakpet	Dr.M.Pandu Ranga Rao	6214
59	Hyderabad	Amberpet	Chintaboina Vinod Yadav	6234
60	Hyderabad	Khairatabad	Atluri Subhashini	12191
61	Hyderabad	Jubilee Hills	Gullapally Pratibha Rao	17497
62	Hyderabad	Sanath Nagar	Inapurapu Srikanth Sharma	10857
63	Hyderabad	Nampally	Pagadala Venkateswara Rao	to be entered
64	Hyderabad	Karwan	Ravula Manik Prabhu	1953
65	Hyderabad	Goshamahal	Hemanth Kumar Jaiswal	2088
66	Hyderabad	Charminar	Not Contested	none
67	Hyderabad	Chandrayangutta	Not Contested	none
68	Hyderabad	Yakutpura	Nakkaboina Veerendra Babu Yadav	4566
69	Hyderabad	Bahadurpura	Not Contested	none
70	Hyderabad	Secunderabad	Akula Maharani	9287
71	Hyderabad	Secunderabad Contonment (SC)	V.R. Vijaya Rama Raju	9653
72	Mahaboobnagar	Kodangal	S Jayaprakash Narayan	878
73	Mahaboobnagar	Narayanapet	Not Contested	none
74	Mahaboobnagar	Mahaboobnagar	Bekkari Ram Reddy	1987
75	Mahaboobnagar	Jadcharla	Vadla Srinu	1134
76	Mahaboobnagar	Devarkadra	K.Krishna Kumar Reddy	1453
77	Mahaboobnagar	Maktal	Kotla Raja Mallesh	780
78	Mahaboobnagar	Vanaparthi	Vitla Praveen Kumar Reddy	1134
79	Mahaboobnagar	Gadval	Mundarinti Murali Srinivas	997
80	Mahaboobnagar	Alampur (SC)	Bichala Swamulu	717
81	Mahaboobnagar	Nagar Kurnool	Kandanulu Rama Krishna	1388
82	Mahaboobnagar	Achchampet (SC)	Gadadasu Venkateshwarlu	2869
83	Mahaboobnagar	Kalwakurthy	Bandela Ramachandra Reddy	1960
84	Mahaboobnagar	Shadnagar	P.Narender	1069
85	Mahaboobnagar	Kollapur	Pebbeti Vishnu Vardhan Reddy	813
86	Nalgonda	Devarakonda(ST)	Not Contested	none
87	Nalgonda	Nagarjuna Sagar	Tera Rajini Kanth	713
88	Nalgonda	Miryalaguda	Maddi Venkateshwarlu	2961
89	Nalgonda	Huzurnagar	Kadiyam Srinivasa Reddy	1992
90	Nalgonda	Kodhada	Polavaram Kalyani	2163
91	Nalgonda	Suryapet	Rajender Karpuram	2195
92	Nalgonda	Nalgonda	G. Venkata Ramana Reddy	2893
93	Nalgonda	Munugode	Erukonda Lachchayya	1952
94	Nalgonda	Bhuvanagiri	Kishtaiah Suthrapu	1873
95	Nalgonda	Nakrekal(SC)	Vantepaka Yadagiri	2257
96	Nalgonda	Thungathurthi(SC)	Srinivasa Rao Puduri	1584
97	Nalgonda	Aleru	Subburu Ramesh	2099
98	Warangal	Janagam	Beti Raji Reddy	2285
99	Warangal	Station Ghanpur (SC)	Gurram Timothi	1411
100	Warangal	Palakurthi	Ravula Sujatha Rao	1180
101	Warangal	Dornakal (ST)	Ramdas Naik	2069
102	Warangal	Mahabubabad (ST)	Irya Banothu Nayak	2262
103	Warangal	Narsampet	Kurma Jagan	1267
104	Warangal	Parakala	Not Contested	none
105	Warangal	Warangal West	Sri Parcha Kodanda Rama Rao	6681
106	Warangal	Warangal East	Tirunari Seshaiah	4274
107	Warangal	Waradhanapet(SC)	Jatti Ravi Kumar	2800
108	Warangal	Bhoopalapalli	Maheswarapu Gattaiah	1547
109	Warangal	Mulugu (ST)	Not Contested	none
110	Khammam	Pinapaka(ST)	Banavath Srinivasa Rao	1936
111	Khammam	Yellandu(ST)	Not Contested	none
112	Khammam	Khammam	Dr Raghavulu Samineni	none
113	Khammam	Paleru	Kolisetti Nageswara Rao	2909
114	Khammam	Madhira(SC)	Vanguri Ramesh	1377
115	Khammam	Wyra(ST)	Undadi Narender	1471
116	Khammam	Sathupalle(SC)	Chookaiah Jadi	1959
117	Khammam	Kothagudam	Bhupathi Lavanya	2585
118	Khammam	Aswaraopeta (ST)	Not Contested	none
119	Khammam	Bhadrachalam (ST)	Puli Pichchayya	2372
120	Srikakulam	Ichchapuram	Not Contested	none
121	Srikakulam	Palasa	Kancharana Sudhabala	1381
122	Srikakulam	Tekkali	Chandrasekhar Patnayak	2216
123	Srikakulam	Pathapatnam	Pullamshetti Mohan Rao	1418
124	Srikakulam	Srikakulam	Seera Suri Laxmana Murthy	2400
125	Srikakulam	Amudalavalasa	Thammineni Annam Naidu	2236
126	Srikakulam	Etcherla	Gurugubilli Appala Nayudu	3287
127	Srikakulam	Narasanna Pet	Telugu Nageswara Rao	1103
128	Srikakulam	Rajam(SC)	Dukka Adinarayana	1645
129	Srikakulam	Palakonda(ST)	Kumari Chukka Venkata Gouri	1891
130	Vizianagaram	Kurupam(ST)	Not Contested	none
131	Vizianagaram	Parvathipuram(SC)	Patlasingu Ravi Kumar	1805
132	Vizianagaram	Saluru (ST)	Not Contested	none
133	Vizianagaram	Bobbili	Saraswathi Penki	1044
134	Vizianagaram	Chipurupalli	Reddi Lakshmu Naidu	1630
135	Vizianagaram	Gajapathi Nagaram	D.Eshwar Rao	2048
136	Vizianagaram	Nellimarla	Rai Padmavathi	1290
137	Vizianagaram	Vizianagaram	Apparao Babji Beeshetti	3424
138	Vizianagaram	Srungavarapukota	Gogada Satyanarayana	1936
139	Visakhapatnam	Bhimili	Saripalli Atchyutha.Rammohan	5166
140	Visakhapatnam	Visakhapatnam (East)	Jhansi Lakshmi Ravala	10155
141	Visakhapatnam	Visakhapatnam (South)	J.Sailaja	7922
142	Visakhapatnam	Visakhapatnam (North)	Srini Mahesh (Independent)	7736
143	Visakhapatnam	Visakhapatnam (West)	Avula Govardhan Reddy	5593
144	Visakhapatnam	Gajuvaka	Ananda Beeharilal Gottimukkala (Murari Parlour Raju)	8959
145	Visakhapatnam	Chodavaram	Gullipalli Narayana Murthy	1712
146	Visakhapatnam	Madugula	Not Contested	none
147	Visakhapatnam	Araku(ST)	Baka Manikyamma	3464
148	Visakhapatnam	Paderu(ST)	Madela Balanna Dora	2670
149	Visakhapatnam	Anakapalli	Garimella Narayana	2544
150	Visakhapatnam	Pendurthi	Baswa Veera Venkata Satyanarayana Murthy	5303
151	Visakhapatnam	Yelamanchili	Not Contested	none
152	Visakhapatnam	Payakaraopet (SC)	Pilli Balaramudu	1758
153	Visakhapatnam	Narsipatnam	Surla Naga Venkata Surya Narayana	1396
154	East Godavari	Thuni	Pammi Laxmana Acharyulu	1428
155	East Godavari	Prathipadu	NVV Satyanaryana	971
156	East Godavari	Pitapuram	Badam Madhava Rao	2484
157	East Godavari	Kakinada Rural	Y.D.Rama Rao	5601
158	East Godavari	Peddapuram	Venkateshwar Rao Karanam	2160
159	East Godavari	Anaparthy	Karri Rami Reddy	1778
160	East Godavari	Kakinada City	Kanchustambam Venkata Satya Prasad	5792
161	East Godavari	Ramachandrapuram	Devarapalli Rama Krishna	1981
162	East Godavari	Mummidivaram	Rajasekhar Reddy	714
163	East Godavari	Amalapuram (SC)	Not Contested	none
164	East Godavari	Razole(sc)	Badugu Srinivasa Babu	1290
165	East Godavari	Gannavaram (SC)	Not Contested	none
166	East Godavari	Kothapeta	Kallakuri Harinadha Rao	1175
167	East Godavari	Mandapeta	Punnamaraju Veera Venkata Surya Rama Krishna Rao	1478
168	East Godavari	Rajanagaram	Not Contested	none
169	East Godavari	Rajahmundry City	Jalla Ravi	6855
170	East Godavari	Rajahmundry Rural	Gurrala Kasuri Devi	4141
171	East Godavari	Jaggampeta	Smt Jayasree Kamineni	1172
172	East Godavari	Rampachodavaram (ST)	Katru Sudhakara Babu	1094
173	West Godavari	Kovvuru (SC)	Sodadasi Sunder Singh	1689
174	West Godavari	Nidadavole	Bandi Satyanarayana	1901
175	West Godavari	Achanta	Nekkanti Venugopala Krishna	1277
176	West Godavari	Palakollu	Vaddadi Suryanarayana	1033
177	West Godavari	Narasapuram	Mallula Venkateswara Rao	1306
178	West Godavari	Bheemavaram	Alluri Seetharama Raju	4548
179	West Godavari	Undi	Gottimukkala Janakirama Raju	2093
180	West Godavari	Tanuku	Dr.Valluri Subba Lakshmi	4662
181	West Godavari	Tadepalligudem	Karri Seetha Ramachandra Rao	2142
182	West Godavari	Unguturu	Udatala Madhusudhana Rao	1326
183	West Godavari	Denduluru	Not Contested	none
184	West Godavari	Eluru	Chikka Bheemeswara Rao	3613
185	West Godavari	Gopalapuram(sc)	Arumbaka Yahoshuva	1305
186	West Godavari	Polavaram(st)	Garikapati Krishnamurthy	880
187	West Godavari	Chintalapudi(sc)	Nunna Krishnaiah	1760
188	Krishna	Tiruvuru (SC)	Dubbaka Lakshmi	864
189	Krishna	Nujiveedu	Neelam Dominik	841
190	Krishna	Gannavaram	Maddukuri Vijay Kumar	2258
191	Krishna	Gudivada	Yalamanchili Jyothi Rao	1336
192	Krishna	Kaikaluru	Papolu Krishnaveni	1168
193	Krishna	Pedana	Tammu Yedukondalu	1961
194	Krishna	Machilipatnam	Maganti Venkata Negeswara Rao	2359
195	Krishna	Avanigadda	Paruchuru Chinababu	1350
196	Krishna	Pamarru(SC)	Rajamani Vudiga	1679
197	Krishna	Penamaluru	Chennupati Vazeer	2937
198	Krishna	Vijayawada (West)	Moghal Ahmad Baig	5520
199	Krishna	Vijayawada (Central)	Gnanamba Maddi	6946
200	Krishna	Vijayawada (east)	Sri Koneru Venkata Purna Basaveswara Rao	7794
201	Krishna	Mylavaram	Jarpala Venkatesh	1715
202	Krishna	Nandigama(sc)	Nandru Sriramamurthy	1166
203	Krishna	Jaggayyapeta	Rajaramakrishna Vadegharu	515
204	Guntur	Pedakurapadu	Nandipati Venkateswara Reddy	516
205	Guntur	Tadikonda (SC)	Ekula Veeraiah	1056
206	Guntur	Mangalagiri	Ambati Madhu Mohana Krishna	3325
207	Guntur	Ponnuru	Somarouthu Veera Sekhararao	1234
208	Guntur	Vemuru (SC)	Bontha Praveen Das	1288
209	Guntur	Repalle	Tummala Satyanarayana Choudary	568
210	Guntur	Tenali	Bonthu Uma maheshwar Reddy	3419
211	Guntur	Bapatla	Cherukuri Subbarao	2219
212	Guntur	Prathipadu (SC)	Not Contested	none
213	Guntur	Guntur West	Chivukula Sundara Paravathisam	4787
214	Guntur	Guntur East	Not Contested	none
215	Guntur	Chilakaluri pet	Madasu Bhanuprasad	1195
216	Guntur	Narasaraopet	Not Contested	none
217	Guntur	Sattenapalle	Abdul Raouf Shaik	1159
218	Guntur	Vinukonda	Jujjuri Irama Murthy	917
219	Guntur	Gurajala	Vinjamuri Anantha Krishna Iyengar	1155
220	Guntur	Macharla	Mandada Ravi Kumar	3090
221	Prakasam	Yerragondapalem(sc)	Thammedpalli Jayaprakash	562
222	Prakasam	Darsi	Manchineni Srinivasa Rao	1297
223	Prakasam	Paruchuru	Pentyala Peddanna	2040
224	Prakasam	Addanki	Yarra Sambasiva Rao	946
225	Prakasam	Chirala	Katta Krupa Vardhan Rao	2114
226	Prakasam	Santha Nuthala Padu (SC)	Ramu Varikuti	2200
227	Prakasam	Ongole	Allu Siva Ramesh Reddy	3557
228	Prakasam	Kandukuru	Chimmiri Koteswara Rao	713
229	Prakasam	Kondapi(sc)	Gundabathina Madhava Rao	1155
230	Prakasam	Markapuram	Chittem Venkat Reddy	951
231	Prakasam	Giddaluru	Muthumula Balranga Reddy	1148
232	Prakasam	Kanigiri	Paluri Ramana Reddy	2640
233	Nellore	Kavali	Not Contested	none
234	Nellore	Athmakuru	Not Contested	none
235	Nellore	Kovuru	Chenukula Sudhakar Yadav	1375
236	Nellore	Nellore City	Manukonda Vijaya Lakshmi	3670
237	Nellore	Nellore Rural	V.S.Murali Krishna Reddy	3460
238	Nellore	Sarvepalli	Krishnapatnam Bhaskar	712
239	Nellore	Gudur(SC)	Kundurthi Venkata Krishnaiah	2710
240	Nellore	Sullurpeta(SC)	Pellakur Kanchi Raju	1746
241	Nellore	Venkatagiri	Modiboina Subrahmanyam	1520
242	Nellore	Udayagiri	Ankaiah Chowdary Makkena	1747
243	Kadapa	Badvel (SC)	Not Contested	none
244	Kadapa	Rajampet	Chaata Chandrasheker Yadhav	1061
245	Kadapa	Kadapa	Payyavula Venugopal	1754
246	Kadapa	Koduru (SC)	Not Contested	none
247	Kadapa	Rayachoti	Patan Naseeb Jan	578
248	Kadapa	Pulivendula	Not Contested	none
249	Kadapa	Kamalapuram	K. Altaf Hussain	315
250	Kadapa	Jammalamadugu	P Brahmananda Reddy	715
251	Kadapa	Prodduturu	Not Contested	none
252	Kadapa	Mydukuru	Not Contested	None
253	Kurnool	Allagadda	Rudireddy Radhakrishna	967
254	Kurnool	Srisailam	Pokuri Srinivasachari	755
255	Kurnool	Nandikotkur(SC)	Damodaram Naga Seshulu	510
256	Kurnool	Kurnool	H.Vasantamma	2260
257	Kurnool	Panyam	M.Padma	2164
258	Kurnool	Nandyala	S.A. Mazid	1856
259	Kurnool	Banaganapalle	Nitturu Chandrasekhar Azad	955
260	Kurnool	Dhone	Muddavaram Tirupathaiah	885
261	Kurnool	Pattikonda	Kamsala Anandachary	561
262	Kurnool	Kodumur(SC)	P.B.Raj Kumar	962
263	Kurnool	Yemmiganuru	Bethapally Suryanarayana	896
264	Kurnool	Mantralayam	Anjaneyulu. C	966
265	Kurnool	Adhoni	Venkatesulu K.G.	1163
266	Kurnool	Aluru	C. Pravin Kumar
267	Anantapur	Rayadurgam	Andra Prasad	1072
268	Anantapur	Uravakonda	Not Contested	none
269	Anantapur	Guntakal	Not Contested	none
270	Anantapur	Thadipatri	Ogeti Sridevi	922
271	Anantapur	Singanamala (SC)	Not Contested	none
272	Anantapur	Ananthapuram Urban	Dr Kondeti Kondaiah	4314
273	Anantapur	Kalyana Durgam	R.G. Shantha Kumari	642
274	Anantapur	Raptadu	Not Contested	none
275	Anantapur	Madakasira (SC)	Not Contested	none
276	Anantapur	Hindupur	Sankar Mangesh	2500
277	Anantapur	Penukonda	Not Contested	none
278	Anantapur	Puttaparthi	Prathivadhi Bhayankaram Phanindar	450
279	Anantapur	Dharmavaram	Pamisetti Nagaraju	1302
280	Anantapur	Kadiri	G. Mansoor Basha	669
281	Chittoor	Thamballapalli	Kotakonda Suryanarayana	756
282	Chittoor	Pileru	Kavali Venugopala Nayanavarlu	598
283	Chittoor	Madanapalle	Veeradallu Yogendra Babu	1041
284	Chittoor	Punganuru	Chiruvelu Srinivasulu	564
285	Chittoor	Chandragiri	P.Jagannatham Naidu	1417
286	Chittoor	Tirupati	Malayadri. G	3718
287	Chittoor	Srikalahasti	S. Chiranjeevi	1277
288	Chittoor	Sathyavedu (SC)	Not Contested	719
289	Chittoor	Nagari	Dr.G.Jawahar Ruben	742
290	Chittoor	Gangadhara Nellore (SC)	K.Jayaprakash	686
291	Chittoor	Chittor	Jayakumar	1307
292	Chittoor	Poothalapattu (SC)	Not Contested	none
293	Chittoor	Palamaneru	Mallikarjuna Mokati	759
294	Chittoor	Kuppam	Not Contested	none

Let us restore dignity in politics: Dr. JP (Telugu)

Let us restore dignity in politics: Dr. JP

“Now that the elections are over and a government is firmly in place, political parties should return to the path of civility in public discourse, rise above partisan considerations, and work collectively to fulfill people’s aspirations.”

Making this appeal at a media conference, Lok Satta Party President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan said that perhaps in the heat of the no-holds-barred and bitter electioneering, most political parties and politicians indulged in character assassination in mutual mud-slinging unbecoming of their stature. “Genuine differences among political parties are natural in a democracy. One should learn to disagree without being disagreeable. Politics is all about reconciling conflicting interests.”

The Lok Satta President, who attended the swearing in of Dr. Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy as Chief Minister, regretted that top leaders of the Opposition parties chose to keep away from the function. “Whether we like it or not, Dr. YSR is the Chief Minister for the entire State and not merely for Congress people who elected his party to power.” The Government too did not cover itself with glory by allowing over-enthusiastic ruling party people to turn the solemn swearing-in ceremony into a party affair. The ruling party must realize that the government belongs to all people, and must treat all sections equally without favour or malice. The healthy tradition of opposition leaders participating in all state functions and swearing-in ceremonies at the national level should be followed in the state.

Commenting on the election results, Dr. JP said that the Lok Satta had failed to convert the unparalleled support it enjoyed into votes. “We accept the verdict in all humility and refuse to look for alibis or blame others for our performance. We pledge ourselves to strengthen the party and engender confidence among the public that together we can transform society.”

He added, “The perception is widespread that the year 2014 belongs to the Lok Satta, not because it is powerful but because it is articulating people’s aspirations, and emerged as on authentic platform for citizen’s Political parties participation”.

Dr. JP said the 2009 elections were marked by unprecedented vote buying, liquor distribution on a large scale, intense caste polarization and the vicious propaganda that a vote to an ethical party like the Lok Satta would be a wasted vote.” Yet the people by and large displayed extraordinary maturity by not succumbing to caste Talibans, lucrative and irresistible freebies and money and liquor.

Listing out the challenges before the Government, Dr. JP said it had to focus on providing basic amenities to citizens on a war footing. They included supply of safe drinking water, drainage and uninterrupted power supply, road and public transport facilities to every habitation. The Government had to focus on providing livelihood skills and jobs to lakhs of educated and semi-educated young people. Instead of coming up with short-term palliatives, the Government had to work out a comprehensive medium and long-term strategy to eradicate poverty.

Pointing out that the innovative solutions were available to mitigate poverty, he instanced how with the introduction of solar LED lamps to light up homes, the Government could save over Rs.20,000 crore annually on kerosene subsidy all over the country. The country could save precious foreign exchange, save people from health hazards and prevent environmental pollution if LED lamps were distributed free of cost to every BPL family.

Dr. JP underlined the need for eliminating waste and corruption at a time the State is going through an economic slowdown. The conditions will worsen in the months to go as the Government’s expenditure commitments grossly exceed the State Government’s anticipated tax and non-tax receipts and devolution of resources from the Government of India. “High cost and low impact projects like the Pranahita-Chevella lift irrigation scheme have to give way to low cost and high impact projects. People of Telangana can be served far better at a lower cost, by taking up alternative, low cost projects”.

On corruption, Dr. JP said the ruling party and its captains should set an example by pursuing a path of rectitude. “The Ganga cannot remain pure and sacred if the Gangotri itself is polluted, to quote Mr. A. B. Vajpayee.” He commented that Andhra Pradesh had some of the finest officers and employees if political leaders inspired them by example, the State could turn a new leaf in its history.”

Dr. JP wanted the Government to empower people without further delay through decentralization of powers, resources and personnel. In addition, the Government should make available a per capita grant of Rs.1000 to every panchayat and municipality/corporation since they alone are competent to identify and fulfill people’s compelling needs. “Citizens cannot be treated as mere vote banks. People’s participation between elections is the essence of democracy. Only when citizens are empowered and all governance institutions revolve around people can fulfill our potential”, Dr. JP asserted.

Referring to a proposal to collect a higher cess on liquor to partly fund ‘Arogyasri’, Dr. JP regretted that the Government was oblivious to the apparent contradiction. The Government was solely responsible for the impairment of livelihood and health of lakhs of people poor in that it encouraged unbridled liquor consumption to maximize State revenue. “As if to salve its conscience, it promotes ‘Agogyasri’ in the name of going to the rescue of the same poor people.” The Lok Satta would like the Government to abandon its policy of auctioning liquor shops to the highest bidder. A liquor dealer who obtains the liquor outlet license at astronomical cost will try to boost his sales by promoting belt shops. Instead, the Government itself should run a limited number of liquor shops as in Delhi with a view to curbing burgeoning liquor consumption. “Andhra Pradesh has the dubious distinction of being among the top liquor consuming States in the country.”

Lok Satta rubbishes critics (Telugu)

Lok Satta rubbishes critics

The Lok Satta Party today took strong exception to certain politicians and media analysts blaming the Lok Satta for the failure or success of certain parties in the 2009 elections. “The charge that the Lok Satta Party cut into the votes of one party or the other betrays the critics’ presumption that they own certain vote banks. It is nothing but an affront to the voters’ intelligence and wisdom.”

Talking to the media, party spokesmen Mrs. S. Manorama and Mrs. K. Geeta Murthy said that the Lok Sattta Party had been formed specifically to usher in new politics, and not to pull down one party and enthrone the other and perpetuate traditional politics. Certain families and individuals over the years had converted politics into a lucrative business enterprise to serve their personal interests at the cost of citizens. “The citizens around whom politics should revolve in a democracy have been turned into supplicants.”

The spokesmen pointed out that the Lok Satta had contested the elections with a clear-cut and practicable agenda. Although it enjoyed tremendous good will, the Lok Satta failed to convert it into votes for reasons ranging from absence of competent leaders and inadequate resources to the malicious propaganda that a vote to the Lok Satta would be a wasted vote. Infact only, 5 to 10% of the people who are supporters of Lok Satta voted in its favour because of the propaganda of wasted vote. In truth, Lok Satta’s vote has thus been diverted to traditional parties which indulged in vote buying, liquor distribution, casteism, and parochialism. But Lok Satta refuses to blame other parties for our inability to convert our support into votes.

After honest introspection, the Lok Satta haf decided to overcome its weaknesses and strengthen itself to reach the people, instead of blaming them. “We are proud that more than 7.5 lakh voters chose to vote for us, spurning inducements like money and liquor and a host of freebies offered by all traditional parties.” Lok Satta represents the future and traditional parties represent the past. We will build a secure future for all children irrespective of caste, region, religion, and language. These elections have given us the foundation to build clean politics.

The spokesmen recalled that the Lok Satta Party right from the beginning had made it clear that it alone could not transform the country. “There are innumerable competent and honest leaders in all parties and in society who are equally fed up with the present state of affairs. The Lok Satta invited all like-minded parties, forces and individuals to join hands in its mission of unveiling new politics. The only conditions the Lok Satta stipulated for contesting elections together was the parties should pledge themselves against inducing voters with money and liquor and fielding candidates with criminal antecedents. Sadly, not a single traditional party came forward to abide by the Lok Satta criteria at least publicly. These parties should introspect honestly and correct their methods instead of indulging in mud-slinging and blame throwing.

“The Lok Satta firmly believes that buying votes with money and liquor is nothing but a travesty of democracy. People come to power by investing in votes only to enrich themselves enormously by all means. There is no raison d’etre for the Lok Satta Party if it resorts to or condones such behavior.”

Quoting Lok Satta Party President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan, the spokesmen pointed out that the Lok Satta had made a good beginning in the 2009 elections and was poised to emerge as the future of India.

NRIs happy over Lok Satta performance (Telugu)

NRIs happy over Lok Satta performance

People for Lok Satta, an NRI organization backing the Lok Satta Party, described the 2009 elections in Andhra Pradesh as a moral victory for the party in that lakhs of people voted for it spurning inducements like money, liquor and freebies offered by the three traditional parties and ignoring the malicious propaganda that a vote for the new party would be a wasted vote.

The organization comprising NRIs in the U.S., Canada, Britain, Switzerland, Australia and New Zealand, campaigned for the party through phone calls and SMS.

It noted that the Lok Satta Party had struck roots in urban areas although it could not make an impact in rural areas. It pledged itself to replicate Kukatpally, from which party President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan was elected to the Assembly, all over the country in the days to come. The NRIs would do their best to create a society in which every one transcending caste and religion, region and language had equal opportunities for growth, said Messrs Satya Suresh Donepudi, Kranthi Gaddam, Prasad Gattu in a statement released through the Lok Satta Party headquarters here.

Lavu Rattaiah plans free education in slum areas

Lavu Rattaiah, the Lok Satta candidate from Malkajgiri Parliament Constituency, assured the people of the constituency that even though he lost he would continue to work for them.

“I didn’t bribe the voters by offering them money or liquor, but still polled almost 9 per cent of the votes. This shows that people are beginning to thirst for change,” he said. “Hopefully, by the next election I will convert my vote share to 20 per cent,” he said.

Rattaiah, chairman and managing director of Guntur-based Vignan Group of institutions, said at a news conference that he planned to provide free education in the slums in Malkajgiri.

“I put forth the proposal to the party and received encouragement,” he said.

He also wanted to provide medical facilities.

But when pressed for details he said it was too early to give concrete details.

When asked if he played a spoiler to the TDP candidate Rattaiah disagreed.

“If I had not contested my votes would have been distributed between the TDP, PRP and the BJP, so it is incorrect to say that the the TDP lost in Malkajgiri because of me,” he said. When queried how much change Lok Satta could bring about with just one MLA, he said that the party could work among the masses as it had been doing till now. “We will pursue our ideology through other means,” he said. One idea he floated was adopting a village in each constituency and eradicating illiteracy from it. However, he agreed that to bring about statutory changes the party needed numbers in the Assembly.

Courtesy: Expressbuzz

Voters displayed extraordinary maturity: Dr. JP (Telugu)

Voters displayed extraordinary maturity: Dr. JP

Voters in India at both the State and national levels displayed extraordinary maturity in rejecting opportunistic alliances struck solely to grab power, said Lok Satta Party President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan here today.

Addressing the party’s State Working Committee, Dr. JP said the elections were historic in that the voters refused to vote for a party that promised cash transfer of Rs.2000 per family per month. They did not succumb to politicians who sought to stoke the flames of hatred based on caste and region. That the voters returned 33 Congress candidates to the Lok Sabha compared to a mere 157 to the Assembly testified to their discretion in choosing the party that should rule the country.

Dr. JP congratulated Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and Chief Minister Dr. Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy on their remarkable performance in national and State elections.

Dr. JP pointed out that the Lok Satta could not translate the abundant good will it enjoyed into votes because it did not have competent leaders who could inspire confidence among rural voters. It enjoyed enormous good will because it had a powerful agenda, and the middle classes had begun to own it. It was ignored by the media owners who had their vested interests to pursue, although media personnel by and large stood by the party. There was no reason to get dejected by the media’s attitude since the aberration would turn out to be transient. The media could not afford to antagonize the middle classes, its major constituency. “As a moral institution, the media is going to stand by the people and support the cause of democratic transformation.”

The Lok Satta as of now was in no position to guarantee that it would safeguard rural voters from feudal oppression if they exercised their franchise freely. It, therefore, envisaged formation of citizen service centers in every constituency to serve as a bridge between people and governmental agencies and safeguard them from factional pressures.

Underlining the need to strengthen the party with cooption of competent leaders and raising of adequate resources, Dr. JP said, “We are engaged in a war and we need soldiers who are prepared to fight. I am not enamored of earning a name and fame but only interested in transforming the country. Join me and share the glory.”

A giant leap for new politics: Dr. JP (Telugu)

A giant leap for new politics: Dr. JP

Lok Satta Party President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan has described his victory from Kukatpally constituency to the Andhra Pradesh Assembly as a “small beginning for the Lok Satta but a giant leap for new politics.”

Interacting with people who streamed in to congratulate him at the party headquarters, Dr. JP said he was “deeply humbled as a citizen and political worker” with the voters turning Kukatpally into an arena of epic struggle for new politics. “It is a victory of the people at a time most believed that even a Mahatma Gandhi could not win without distributing money and liquor in the present climate of cynicism and despair.”

Dr. JP said that thousands of youth, middle class people, women and even the poor leading precarious livelihood had responded to the call for a second freedom struggle and laid a durable foundation for transformational politics.

The Lok Satta, he recalled, had faced formidable obstacles in converting the enormous good will it enjoyed into votes against the backdrop of there being two deeply-entrenched traditional parties displaying unprecedented money power, feudal elements exercising oppressive control over people’s daily lives and vested interests exacerbating and exploiting caste and regional divisions. “The Lok Satta has always been aware of these barriers. Yet it has chosen the narrow and arduous path to lead the country out of the current crisis.”

“The people in the 2009 elections have demonstrated they are ready for change. The failure lies in the political instruments available to them. While traditional political parties obstructed change, the Lok Satta has not yet attracted the kind of leadership required to inspire confidence in people that such a change is imminent. While most of media persons are strongly in favor of change, media barons have become power players and chosen to perpetuate the status quo. But since media is essentially a moral instrument, ultimately it too will stand on the side of people.”

Dr. JP called upon enlightened citizens with ability, means and influence to come forward and accept the burden of leadership at every level. “We can’t afford to remain on sidelines waiting for somebody else to come and bring about change. Fight for what is right and accelerate transformation. We owe it to our children.”

The 2009 elections, Dr. JP said, had not transformed the nature of politics. But people had displayed extraordinary judgment in rejecting opportunistic alliances with no coherent agenda except the one of grabbing power or unseating others. The voters displayed abundant maturity and self-respect by rejecting extraordinary inducements and freebies, and sobriety and dignity by not succumbing to caste, religion, region, language and other parochial appeals.

Dr. JP said that the elections might not have paid electoral dividends to the Lok Satta Party but had laid the real foundation across the State for building new politics. “The real work of the Lok Satta has just begun. We have to strengthen the party from the grassroots, attract competent and principled leadership, and mobilize resources honestly to sustain clean politics.”

Lok Satta plea for bus shelters (Telugu)

Lok Satta plea for bus shelters

The Lok Satta Party and its youth wing, Yuva Satta, have requested the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation to immediately erect bus shelters at some 20 important bus stops and come to the rescue of commuters.

Mrs. A. Subhashini, Mr. Pagadala Venkateswara Rao and Mr. Balagangadhar Tilak, Lok Satta leaders, presented a representation signed by thousands of bus passengers to GHMC Commissioner S. P. Singh explaining that commuters are exposed both to sun and rain for want of bus shelters. They pointed out that even the maintenance of some of the existing bus shelters was unsatisfactory.

The Lok Satta Party identified the following places where bus shelters have to be constructed on a war footing: Liberty, Himayathnagar, Narayanaguda, Punjagutta, Bagh Lingampalli, Mehdipatnam, Sainikpuri, ECIL X Road, LB Nagar Ring Road, Sagar Ring Road, Jiaguda, Tallagadda, Lingampalli X Road, Kachiguda X Road, Ramakrishna Mutt, Patny Center, Chialkalaguda, Bowenpalli dabha, Bata – RP Road, Rangareddy Collectorate.

Ministers’ review perfunctory: Lok Satta (Telugu)

Ministers’ review perfunctory: Lok Satta

The Lok Satta Party today took exception to the casual manner in which three Ministers had reviewed the breakout out of diseases like cholera and diarrhea in many parts of the State. Even as they recognized that polluted drinking water triggered the diseases, they did not display any remorse for neglecting the problem for so many years and causing avoidable distress to thousands of people.

Talking to the media, party spokespersons Dr. P. Bhaskara Rao and Mrs. K. Gita Murthy recalled that while one Minister claimed there were no deaths, another said there was only one death while the third one dismissed the cholera outbreak as a routine feature. Far from boosting the morale of victims by ensuring continuous medical relief, the Ministers were content with announcing ex gratia payments to the next of kin of the deceased.

People were rightly indignant with the Ministers because they had been denied a basic amenity for decades. The Lok Satta spokespersons said the Ministers are public servants and accountable to the public as long as they continued to be in office.

Cholera, a symptom of Govt.’s malaise: Lok Satta (Telugu)

Cholera, a symptom of Govt.’s malaise: Lok Satta

Cholera in Hyderabad city, anthrax, typhoid and malaria in Agency areas and diarrhoea in many parts of the State are merely symptoms of a deep malaise afflicting the State administration.

Successive State Governments have apparently abdicated their responsibility of providing basic amenities like safe drinking water, toilet facilities and quality primary health care to people all over the State, charged the Lok Satta Party here today.

“It is, therefore, no wonder that deadly diseases break out at regular intervals,” party spokesman Katari Srinivasa Rao said in a media statement. “Instead of tackling the fundamental problems, the Government resorts to fire-fighting like suspending and transferring a few officials to assuage the agitated public.”

“What is tragic is that we have the resources and technologies but lack the will to address the problems.”

Because of its skewed priorities, the present Government has totally neglected primary and preventive care and focused its entire attention on tertiary care through ‘Arogyasri.’ Millions of people who suffer from routine ailments cannot avail themselves of ‘Arogyasri’, which is intended to benefit only a few lakhs of people requiring tertiary care. In Andhra Pradesh, there are primary centers without doctors and even when there are doctors, they don’t have drugs to dispense.

Mr. Srinivasa Rao said prudence dictates that a Government deploy its scarce resources to benefit the maximum number of people. There could be no greater priority than providing safe drinking water to people all over the State. “After all, people are not asking for the moon when they seek protected drinking water.”

Dr.JP's Message to Volunteers

Dear Friend,

You, along with thousands of like-minded volunteers and supporters have done a spectacular job for the 2009 elections! Lok Satta Party (LSP) whole-heartedly acknowledges and thanks all your unstinted efforts including phone calls to voters, talking to and convincing friends and family members, circulating emails, forwarding of SMSes, directly volunteering at our offices and in constituencies and donating to LSP’s cause. All these efforts helped ‘create a buzz’ about our Party, our campaign and our cause. Your efforts generated hope and excitement and sustained confidence among millions of voters.

The 2009 General Election has been an extraordinary journey….

Lok Satta Party received enthusiastic support received from all sections of the population. There are three reasons why:

1. Twelve-and-half years of dedicated and committed hard work by thousands of Lok Satta Volunteers making it the largest civil society movement in India; they have been translating ideas into action on a sustained basis since 1997.

   
   

2. The citizens have been watching Lok Satta Party very closely since its formation on October 2, 2006. They have scrutinized every move of LSP and assessed whether actions match its professed ideals on several key fronts:

   
   
   
   
   • Abjuring voter-inducements such as money and liquor
     
   • Raising and utilizing resources in a completely ethical and transparent manner
     
   • Not having alliances and seat adjustments with parties/groups for short-term expediency at the cost of principles and long-term outcomes
     
   • Whether its agenda is consistent, practical, contributes to nation-building and reconciles conflicting interests
     
   • Not resorting to extralegal and obstructionist methods of political action such as bandhs, rasta rokos, etc.
     
   • Internal democracy in conducting the party affairs
     
   
   

   
   LSP emerged successful on all these counts.
   
   Most of LSP’s candidates are young, seriously committed to public good but were new to electoral politics and were generally unknown to the people. However, not a single LSP candidate had resorted to unethical practices – even as the top leaders of other parties had shamelessly resorted to bribing of voters with money and liquor, in their own constituencies.
   
   Thousands of ordinary citizens including the poor and the deprived, and the disadvantaged had contributed their time and money for LSP’s campaign. Many daily wage labourers had contributed Rs. 500-1000 – well beyond their means.
   
   While there are some shortcomings in the party as a whole, the people have recognized LSP’s honest and earnest efforts to build a New Political Culture and to give a sensible direction to building the country’s future.
   

   
   

3. The traditional political parties, which are LSP’s competitors, had thoroughly exposed themselves by their naked opportunism, family rule, corruption, absence of a real agenda and bankruptcy of ideas, unethical and illegal practices and lack of demonstrable commitment to public good. The disgust and anger against traditional politics made LSP even more attractive to the voters.

   
   

In this election, LSP drew support from all sections of the society and from the following groups, in particular:

• The youth, including college-educated youth and even school-children
  
• Women, especially the housewives
  
• The middle class
  
• Families affected by the liquor menace, in the rural areas
  
• Other sections of the poor, whose children (typically school or college-going) had some awareness about LSP and on the real issues confronting their families.
  

The challenges faced by LSP have not been small either:

Despite the groundswell of public support, the mainstream media had almost completely ignored LSP. For instance, had a non-Telugu person come to AP and followed the newspapers, she would not have learnt that LSP even exists! This is because of cynicism, corruption including selling of news space for partisan propaganda, directed vested interest and participation in power games. However, thanks to the word-of-mouth, LSP’ message reached nearly all people in the State.

LSP has put up 248 candidates for the AP Legislative Assembly (out of a total of 294 seats) and 33 candidates for the Lok Sabha (out of 42 from the State). The total expenditure incurred by all our candidates and the Party, put together, would be less than half of the expenditure incurred by a single MP candidate from a traditional political party. All the traditional parties put together have spent over 4500 crore rupees during this election; LSP’s total expenditure (party and candidates together) is around 0.1% of this. The average expenditure of LSP’s candidates for each constituency is less than Rs. 1 lakh! Their rivals spent Rs 3-5 crores, on an average.

All things considered, how the groundswell of public opinion would translate into votes and subsequently, into seats will be known only on May 16th, 2009, when the Election Commission counts the votes and declares the results. Irrespective of the election results, Lok Satta Party is firmly committed to successfully establishing a truly ethical New Political Culture across India.

Thanks to all your efforts over the recent few months, Andhra Pradesh has become the epicenter for transformational politics. In five years time, politics of India will change for good as people discover their strength and realize they are the masters of their destiny and not the parties and their candidates.

We hope you will not just continue but increase your support of and participation in LSP’s New Political Culture!

Warm Regards,

Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan

Lok Satta welcomes SC observation (Telugu)

Lok Satta welcomes SC observation

The Lok Satta Party today welcomed the Supreme Court observation that people could hold political parties accountable for their election manifesto promises. By pointing out that voters could seek compensation from political parties and elected representatives for failure to fulfill their election-eve commitments, the Supreme Court upheld the voter’s importance.

Talking to the media, party spokesmen Katari Srinivasa Rao and Dr. P. Bhaskara Rao said that the Lok Satta, unlike other parties, gave 50 irrevocable guarantees all of which were constitutionally correct and could be fulfilled with the available resources. In contrast, the traditional parties made promises, which they had no intention to fulfill or were beyond the means available or constitutionally not permitted. The Congress Party had promised total prohibition in stages but promoted liquor consumption. The Telugu Desam Party’s color TV sets’ promise amounted to a corrupt electoral practice and its cash transfer scheme in its present form was impracticable given the State’s limited resources. The Praja Rajyam Party promised distribution of land to all the landless poor without recognizing that the land was a limited resource.

The Lok Satta, the two leaders pointed out, was not opposed to the State going to the assistance of the distressed and the disadvantaged. It contended that the limited resources of the State should be utilized to help people stand on their own feet. For this, the State should provide quality education and health care to all free of cost, provide livelihood skills to all the youth and ensure higher incomes in agriculture and traditional occupations.

Commenting on the fire in the Secretariat, the spokesmen said it exposed the Government’s negligence in taking fire prevention measures.

Lok Satta spends the least, yet Wins over people: Dr. JP (Telugu)

Lok Satta spends the least, yet Wins over people: Dr. JP

Lok Satta Party President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan disclosed today that the average expenditure incurred by a Lok Satta candidate in the Assembly constituencies is less than Rs.1 lakh in contrast to Rs.3crore -5 crore by each of his or her traditional party rival.

“The total expenditure incurred by all of our candidates and the party would be less than half of the expenditure incurred by a single MP candidate from a traditional political party. All the traditional parties put together have spent over Rs.4500 crore during this election; the Lok Satta’s total expenditure (both the party’s and candidates’ put together) is around 0.1% of this.”

Dr, JP, who reviewed the performance of the party in the 2009 elections in North Telangana districts, pointed that most of LSP’s candidates are young, seriously committed to public good but are new to electoral politics and generally unknown to the people. “Yet not a single party candidate had resorted to unethical practices – even as the top leaders of other parties had shamelessly resorted to bribing of voters with money and liquor, in their own constituencies.”

Briefing the media on the review meeting, party General Secretaries V. Laxman Balaji and G. Raja Reddy said the Lok Satta had contested 248 of the total 294 Assembly seats and 33 of the 42 total Lok Sabha seats.

Dr. JP said the Lok Satta had received enthusiastic support from all sections of people because of its track record as a movement for 12 years since 1997 and as a party since October 2006. By refusing to induce voters with money and liquor, raising and utilizing funds in an ethical and transparent manner and deciding against entering into opportunistic electoral alliances the party impressed the voters. Also appealing to the voters were its practical agenda to transform the people’s lives, its commitment against inconveniencing people through unconstitutional means like bandhs and rasta rokos and its internal democracy.

Dr. JP said the party’s political rivals had strengthened the Lok Satta by exposing themselves with their “naked opportunism, family rule, corruption, absence of a real agenda and bankruptcy of ideas, unethical and illegal practices and lack of demonstrable commitment to public good. The disgust and anger against traditional politics made the LSP even more attractive to the voters.”

Dr. JP said that despite the groundswell of public support, the mainstream media had almost completely ignored LSP. Had a non-Telugu person come to AP and followed newspapers, he or she would not have known that the Lok Satta Party even existed. “This is because of cynicism, corruption including selling of news space for partisan propaganda, vested interests and participation in power games.” However, thanks to the word-of-mouth, LSP’ message reached nearly all people in the State.

Dr. JP said that the 2009 elections have made Andhra Pradesh the epicenter for transformational politics. “In five years time, politics of India will change for the better as people discover their strength and realize they are the masters of their destiny and not the parties and their candidates.”

At a time the media continued to speculate as to which of the three parties – the Congress, TDP and PRP – would come to power in Andhra Pradesh, about 50 young men from Maheswaram and L. B. Nagar areas joined the Lok Satta Party in the presence of Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan at the party headquarters here today.

“We are unconcerned about the outcome of the general elections since no traditional party could transform the present state of affairs. We believe that the Lok Satta alone will deliver what it has promised,” said Mr. Panneeru Srinivas and Mr. Kottam Jangayya Yadav, who led them. They said all of them had been TDP supporters in the past.

Welcoming the young people into the party, Dr. JP said the present elections would change politics in the country forever since lakhs of youth, women and considerable sections of the poor had realized the importance of voting in transforming their lives.

Although the Lok Satta enjoyed tremendous support from people, it had not been able to translate it into votes because of the inability of party candidates to spend even the minimum permitted amounts, media’s calculated neglect of the party, casteism assuming epidemic proportions, irresistible offers of money and liquor in return for votes and pulls and pressures exerted by traditional party leaders on ignorant and illiterate rural voters.

Notwithstanding formidable odds, the results would show the Lok Satta’s performance in terms of votes polled would be extraordinary, said Dr. JP.

Referring to the Bholakpur tragedy in which a number of people died because of polluted drinking water, Dr. JP asked why no political party other than the Lok Satta had talked of providing protected water to every habitation. The Lok Satta had promised not merely drinking water but also a toilet for every home, and road and public transport facilities to every village.

Lok Satta Survey on Drinking Water (Telugu)