As YSRCP heads towards a landslide victory in the Andhra Pradesh assembly, various reports suggest that party leader Jagan Mohan Reddy is expected to be sworn in on May 30 at Tirupathi. However, those within the party say no decision has been taken yet in the matter.
“We will have a meeting on Friday with our legislators to discuss and then we will hold a press conference,” said YV Subba Reddy, former MP and YSRCP leader. He added that after assuming power, they will, “look into various aspects where the TDP led by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has looted Andhra Pradesh in the last five years.”
At the time of writing this article, the YSRCP was leading in 149 out of 175 assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh. It is also being reported that the incumbent Chief Minister and party president of TDP, N Chandrababu Naidu, will be resigning once the vote counting is formally over on Thursday itself.
Subba Reddy told TNM that the first focus of the party after taking office would be to ensure that the state’s water crisis is resolved. “Water is a big issue in Andhra Pradesh, the water problem is acute. We hope to deal with this problem on a war footing, identify nearby sources and complete incomplete projects such as the Poola Subbaiah Veligonda Project.”
The Rs 5,000 crore project which was designed to supply water to drought-affected parts of Prakasam, Nellore, and Kadapa districts, has missed many deadlines. the TDP government in 2018 had revised the project cost to about Rs 8,000 crore. The project was first launched by Jagan Mohan Reddy’s father and former Andhra Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy under the Jalayagnam scheme. But the project has been marred by delays over the years due to technical issues and fund crunch.
“For funds, we will beg, borrow or steal for the project to be realised. That project has been failed by Chandrababu Naidu. For the last four years, they have been digging 4 km, that’s the reason we promised to the people that in the first six months, we would solve the drinking water crisis on a war footing and in the second phase, it will be irrigation water," added Reddy.