VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy was elected as the lifetime president of the YSR Congress after the party amended its bylaws during the YSRC Plenary meeting on Saturday.
YSRC general secretary and MLC Ummareddy Venkateswarlu during the plenary announced the appointment of party MP and general secretary V. Vijaysai Reddy as the returning officer for the election of the party president.
He announced that 22 sets of nominations were filed on behalf of Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy for the post of the national president of the party. As there was no other nomination for the post, Jagan Mohan Reddy was declared elected unanimously by the returning officer amidst rapturous applause from the huge gathering.
The Plenary has also approved two important amendments to the Party Constitution. The first amendment was to change the name of the party from the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party to the YSR Congress Party or YSRCP. The second amendment was to change the tenure of the post of the party president to a lifetime.
After declaring the election of Jagan Mohan Reddy as lifetime president of YSRCP, party leaders on the dais congratulated him.
The YSRCP leaders cited the case of the DMK, which was allowed by the Election Commission to name M. Karunanidhi as the party chief for life and stated that they are following the same precedent.
The party leaders said that YSRCP will now inform the Election Commission of India (ECI) about its amendments and hoped to get the poll panel's approval.
The decision of the YSRCP to elect Jagan as lifetime president, however, attracted strong criticism from the BJP.
Lanka Dinakar, AP BJP Political Feedback Pramukh, said politicians in a democratic country like India should respect the democratic process even within a political party.
"Unfortunately, CM Jagan has been elected as President of their party for his lifetime. Only dictators and autocratic leaders practice such undemocratic methods. He stated that every political party must have internal democracy. But it is not followed in the parties that run by a family and a dynasty like the sole proprietorship concern," he said.
