Vijayawada: The ruling YSR Congress, led by Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, is gearing itself fully to win all the five MLC seats of teachers and graduates that are falling vacant.
The MLC elections are coming just a year ahead of the Assembly general elections. Winning all the legislative council seats will be a major psychological breakthrough in YSRC’s bid to win all the 175 Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh.
However, teachers are an unhappy lot though as many of their demands have not been met. Graduates are all the more upset, as the ruling party has not announced job calendars as scheduled.
Election Commission of India has already issued a notification for conduct of biennial elections on March 13 for 13 seats falling vacant in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council. Eight of the seats are from local authorities and five from graduates’ and teachers’ constituencies.
YSRC is sure of winning all the eight local authority MLC seats, as it has a majority in local bodies. However, the going will not be easy in the three graduates’ constituencies of Prakasam-Nellore-Chittoor, Kadapa-Anantapur-Kurnool and Srikakulam-Vizianagaram-Visakhapatnam and two teachers’ constituencies Prakasam-Nellore-Chittoor and Kadapa-Anantapur-Kurnool.
YSRC leaders are claiming that Jagan Mohan Reddy government has provided 1.25 lakh jobs in secretariats, has filled 2.06 lakh vacancies in various departments and created additional 3.71 lakh jobs on outsourcing basis during the past three years. They feel this will have a positive impact on voters, particularly graduates.
But it is a different story when it comes to teachers’ constituencies. Senior analysts, however, point out that Communist parties control various teachers’ unions and associations. Teachers are unhappy with poor benefits from PRC, delayed salaries and pending DA arrears. YSRC is thus expected to have a testing time.
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