Amid selfies, autographs at praja darbar, Jagan Mohan makes a prediction
For the last three days, Jagan has been conducting “praja darbar (people’s assembly)” at his camp office in his native village Idupulapaya in Kadapa district.
With six days to go for the declaration of results for the assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, a confident-looking YSR Congress party president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy is already meeting people and and accepting representations from them.
For the last three days, Jagan has been conducting “praja darbar (people’s assembly)” at his camp office in his native village Idupulapaya in Kadapa district.
The darbar, which runs from morning till evening, has a cross section of people — students, farmers, government employees —meeting Jagan to make representations.
A YSRC leader said Jagan had received representations from the people on various issues such as land disputes, drinking water problem, progress of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) works, pensions, delay in releasing water for agriculture operations in the current crop season and compensation to the crops which were destroyed due to recent untimely rains.
“The response to praja darbar has been tremendous. The people of Kadapa have already started acknowledging him as the chief minister of the state and are coming with their problems to him,” the party leader said, adding that hundreds of enthusiastic youth thronged the camp office to take selfies and photographs with the YSRC chief.
On Wednesday, around 350 contract employees working under Rural Child Health Mission (RCHM) in various government hospitals in the state met Jagan and submitted representation. They told him that several lab technicians, helpers and staff nurses working as contract employees since 2006 and have not got their salaries for the last six months. They also appealed to him to regularise their jobs.
“By next week, we are coming to power. As soon as I assume charge as the chief minister, I will take up your case and see that your jobs will be regularised. Please bear with me,” Jagan assured.
Interestingly, former head priest of famous Tirumala temple in Chittoor district AV Ramana Deekshitulu, who was forced to retire by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams in May last year, also attended “Praja Darbar” to represent his case. He had been fighting against his unceremonious removal from his post for the last one year.
He felicitated Jagan with a shawl and said the Tirumala temple, which had witnessed tremendous development during the regime of Jagan’s father and former chief minister YS Rajasekhar Reddy between 2004 and 2009, has lost its importance after the Telugu Desam Party headed by N Chandrababu Naidu came to power in 2014.
“I request you to restore the glory of the Tirumala temple, soon after you assume charge as the chief minister,” Deekshitulu told Jagan, who assured that he will hold a meeting on May 29, after he takes over as the chief minister.
