Jagan speaks about his plans for the new state, his family, corruption charges against him
YSRCP president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy standing in front of a portrait of his late father Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy (Photo: DC)
Hyderabad: Not for a moment does YSR Congress president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy doubt that he will become the first chief minister of the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh. So confident is Jagan that he is already working on a blueprint for the “new” state with a leading multinational consultant.
“I have already prepared plans on how to go about it. There are many countries in the world like Japan whose cities have become saturated and they are looking to invest money in places where they are assured of growth,” he says.
Jagan is not just confident of victory but says it will be a clean sweep for his party. “Like in Tamil Nadu, it is always a sweep in Seemandhra. It will be in our favour. Fractured mandate is common in Telangana.”
His vision for the new capital is futuristic and borders on utopia. Besides development, the focus is on welfare measures, as was the case with his father, the late Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy.
He claims that in the process of cutting him down to size “injustice has been done to the people of Andhra by the Congress. When the state was split, a generous development fund should have been earmarked and specified. By not doing so, they have let the region down.”
He hinted that the capital may not be in any of the existing cities but is likely to be a new city whose name will be carved out of the letters in ‘Seema’ and ‘Andhra’.
During a breakfast meet with Deccan Chronicle, the 41-year-old smiles mischievously as he takes obvious digs at his closest political rival, Telugu Desam chief N. Chandrababu Naidu.
“He belongs to an older generation whose time is past. I have done more at 41 than Mr Naidu did at that age. In terms of thinking, perception and implementation, he is outdated.”
The only other time he mentions the Congress is when he says, “I’m ready to support any government at the Centre except the Congress.”
Despite the adversities that have dogged him, he thinks and dreams big. He is bold and speaks without hesitation. Unlike most leaders who sprinkle their conversations with off-the-record comments, on the eve of the day he is to release his party manifesto, Jagan speaks with clarity about his plans for the new state, his family, corruption charges against him and his detractors.
Full text of interview: ‘However distant, Naidu is my only rival’; Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy
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