Vijayasai Reddy to float new party after Vijaya Dasami as ‘viable alternative’ in A.P.

Former MP V. Vijayasai Reddy outlined the agenda of the political party he plans to float as a “viable alternative” to the TDP, YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) and Jana Sena Party, at a press conference here on Monday. He said the party’s name and other modalities would be announced after Vijaya Dasami and that neither he nor any member of his family would be its Chief Ministerial candidate in 2029. He said he intended to remain only a mentor, on the lines of Bal Thackeray in Maharashtra.

He said the party would be a regional outfit confined to Andhra Pradesh as he lacked the resources to establish a presence in both Telugu States. He claimed that its sole objective would be to rid the State of corruption and the politics of vindictiveness practised by the TDP and YSRCP, which, he said, was reminiscent of the politics in Tamil Nadu in the past.

Mr. Vijayasai Reddy said 66% of the seats would be allocated to youth aged between 25 and 40 years, irrespective of their caste, as their empowerment was crucial to the country’s future.

People in A.P. were disillusioned with the TDP and YSRCP and were looking for a third party to come to their rescue, he said. The Congress, CPI(M), CPI and other parties were not in a position to confront the ruling parties, he claimed. He described the TDP as the “red book party” and the YSRCP as the “rappa rappa party”.

The new party would treat the TDP, YSRCP and other parties as political rivals, and not enemies, he said. On the possibility of pre-poll alliances, he said it would depend on the circumstances prevailing at the time.

Mr. Vijayasai Reddy said the party’s manifesto would have five major goals: bringing down the prices of essential commodities and increasing people’s incomes; providing free electricity to households and farmers by combining Central subsidies with solar installations and making the government buy power generated by them; reducing taxes on petroleum products; expanding water storage capacity to 3,000 TMCFT; and extending maximum support to government schools and providing a “graduate bridge allowance” to unemployed graduates.