Dr. JP appeals to voters not to be swayed by wild promises

Loksatta Party national President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan today appealed to people of the two new States – Telangana and Andhra Pradesh – to vote only for candidates with integrity and competence who alone will safeguard their future.

Addressing media after releasing a list of 51 candidates who will be contesting elections to the Andhra Pradesh Assembly, Dr. JP warned that the two new States would face a bleak future if they vote for parties which are promising all types of sops including loan waivers unmindful of fiscal constraints.

The united Andhra Pradesh had witnessed agitations for and against formation of Telangana because youth in the two regions were concerned about their livelihood opportunities.

Instead of promising generation of more power, encouragement of manufacturing and provision of job opportunities to youth, most parties are trying to grab power by hoodwinking people with temporary sops and unrealistic promises.

Dr. JP said it would be a case of stillbirth both for Telangana and Andhra Pradesh if people do not wake up and think about their future. They should not be swayed by politics of money, dynasty and loyalties to caste and religion as they exercise their franchise.

Dr. JP said the elections have become so murky that in the just concluded ZPTC elections, some candidates had spent up to Rs.7crore each. All that the winners do is electing a zilla parishad chairperson. They have nothing to do thereafter for five years.

The two States are witnessing a mad, unbridled quest for power because it enables victors to loot people and the exchequer. No wonder, with candidates switching from one party to another at such a fast pace, that people do not know on behalf of which party they are contesting.

Dr. JP said people should realize elections are meant for them to chalk out their future and not the future of the candidates in the fray.

Dr. JP recalled that when all other parties promoted regional animosities, the Loksatta alone had worked for an amicable solution to the bifurcation of the State. It highlighted the problems the two emerging States would face and proposed solutions. He was happy and proud when the Union Government accepted most of Loksatta’s ideas.

All his happiness is now evaporating as he witnesses political parties making wild promises with the single point program of coming to power.

The Loksatta Party, he said, is contesting only a limited number of seats. It is seeking people’s votes not to come to power but to safeguard their future in the two States. It is fielding young and educated candidates. The average age of the 51 candidates named today is 35. They include 28 candidates belonging to BCs, SCs and minorities.

Replying to a question, Dr. JP said that Mr. Anurag Kejriwal of Delhi who made wild allegations against the party had been suspended.

Releasing the list of candidates, Mr. D. V. V. S. Varma, Convener of the party’s Andhra Pradesh Coordination Committee, appealed to people to vote for the Loksatta Party which alone can give a direction to youth who are in a state of despondency in the wake of the State’s bifurcation. He warned against voting for the YSRCP, which is steeped in corruption and the TDP, which is making reckless promises.

Mr. Varma said that the second list containing about 25 candidates will be released on April 16.

Party leaders Y. D. Rama Rao, Bhisetty Babji and Omkar took part in the media conference.

Following is the list of candidates released today.

S.No	District	Constituency	Name	Social Category
1	Srikakulam	Palasa	Tammineni Madhava Rao	BC
2	Srikakulam	Amudalavalasa	Tammineni Annama Naidu	BC
3	Srikakulam	Rajam (SC)	T.S. Babu Rao	SC
4	Srikakulam	Srikakulam	Panchadi Rambabu	BC
5	Srikakulam	Echerla	Pydi Ammi Naidu	BC
6	Vizianagaram	Gajapati Nagaram	D. Eshwara Rao	BC
7	Vizianagaram	Vizianagaram	K.R.D. Prasad	BC
8	Vizag	Vizag (North)	Bheesetti Babji	BC
9	Vizag	Vizag (East)	N. Venugopal	OC
10	Vizag	Vizag (West)	Raman Balla	SC
11	Vizag	Gajuwaka	Jampana Sridevi	OC
12	Vizag	Anakapalli	V. Nukaraju	OC
13	East Godavari	Kakinada City	Y.D. Rama Rao	OC
14	East Godavari	Mandapeta	P.V.V. Ramakrishna Rao	OC
15	East Godavari	Ramachandrapuram	M.B.S. Sastri	OC
16	East Godavari	Mummidivaram	P. Prabhakar	OC
17	West Godavari	Eluru	CH. Bheemeswara Rao	OC
18	West Godavari	Narsapur	Nalla Surya Chandar Rao	OC
19	West Godavari	Nidadhavole	Jeedigunta Krishna	OC
20	Krishna	Vijayawada East	V. Bhanuprakash	OC
21	Krishna	Vijayawada Central	B. Ashok Kumar	SC
22	Krishna	Vijayawada West	G. Shiva Prasad	BC
23	Krishna	Penamaluru	Zameel Ahmed Baig	Minority
24	Krishna	Machilipatnam	Ankem Jitendra	OC
25	Krishna	Gannavaram	Pamarthi Ramakrishna	BC
26	Krishna	Avanigadda	N. Radha Krishna	BC
27	Krishna	Pedana	Thirumani Edukondalu	BC
28	Krishna	Jaggayyapeta	Ramakrishna Varma	BC
29	Guntur	Guntur West	J. Irama Murthy	BC
30	Guntur	Chilakaluri Peta	Madasu Bhanu Prasad	SC
31	Guntur	Macharla	Darvemula Prakash	OC
32	Prakasam	Ongole	Allu Shiva Ramesh Reddy	OC
33	Prakasam	S.Nutalapadu	Varikotu Anjaneyulu	SC
34	Prakasam	Chirala	G. Balasubramanyam	BC
35	Prakasam	Parchur	J. Praveen Kumar	OC
36	Prakasam	Kanigiri	T.V.K. Subbarao	OC
37	Prakasam	Markapuram	S. Chandra Shekar	BC
38	Prakasam	Giddaluru	K. Venkateswarlu	BC
39	Prakasam	Kondepi (SC)	G. Madhava Rao	SC
40	Nellore	Nellore City	N. Sridhar	OC
41	Nellore	Guduru	K.V. Krishnaiah	SC
42	Nellore	Sulluru Peta	J. Venkateswarlu	SC
43	Nellore	Nellore Rural	Tunga Narayana Reddy	OC
44	Chittoor	Tirupati	M.Siddaiah Naidu	OC
45	Chittoor	Thambllapally	S. Saravana Kumar	BC
46	Chittoor	Madhanapally	S. Jaya Chandra Reddy	OC
47	Chittoor	Nagari	Pothugunta Vijay Babu
48	Kurnool	Nadhyal	J. Souri Reddy	OC
49	Kurnool	Emmiganur	K. Vasantha Kumar	OC
50	Kurnool	Srisailam	Bannuru Ameenuddin	Minority
51	Kurnool	Aluru	G. Nagaraju	BC