People are thirsting for change: Dr. JP

Loksatta Party national President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan today asserted that people in urban areas of both Telangana and residuary Andhra Pradesh who are seething with indignation over traditional parties will vote for the Loksatta Party in the upcoming general elections.

Addressing a media conference at which he released the names of candidates contesting for 45 Assembly seats in Telangana, Dr. JP said the party is concentrating on urban areas where it enjoys considerable support. The party will release the list of candidates contesting from residuary Andhra Pradesh on April 12. The party is contesting only from Malkajgiri for the Lok Sabha.

Dr. JP recalled that the movement to transform the nature of politics and cleanse democracy began at Kukatpally in 2009 when he was elected to the Assembly. The democratic revolution manifested subsequently in Delhi and is now about to be repeated in urban areas, especially in Hyderabad.

Dr. JP said that traditional parties have converted politics into business.  They sell seats and buy votes, both involving astronomical amounts. They are bent on coming to power by offering temporary sops or monetary inducements or by exploiting loyalties to caste, region, religion and language. The people, he said, are fed up with such tactics of traditional parties.

Dr. JP appealed to voters to reject unequivocally all those who flaunt their money bags or lineage, those who are steeped in corruption or have criminal antecedents and those who offer inducement or seek to divide them on the basis of caste, religion, region and language. They should vote for candidates who will work for a better future for the two States now coming up. He pointed out that the Loksatta Party is fielding educated candidates known for their integrity and commitment to service. A majority of them are young, most of them being in their 20s and 30s. Of the 45 Loksatta candidates 19 are BCs, six SCs, two STs and four women.

Dr. JP said in reply to a question that traditional parties have not responded to the Loksatta initiative for electoral adjustments because they perceive the party as threat to their very existence.

Dr. JP who filed his nomination for the Malkajgiri Lok Sabha seat yesterday said that the Lok Satta has decided to support the NDA in national interest. The country’s economy is in doldrums and polity in disarray. The need of the hour is employment generation and good governance. If a crore of jobs are not created every year for the next ten years, the very survival of India will be doubtful. Against such a backdrop, the BJP and its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi have been laying emphasis on reviving the economy by focusing on manufacturing and providing corruption-free governance. Although the Loksatta has differences with one or two aspects of the BJP manifesto, it has decided to support it in national interest.

Loksatta Party leaders Katari Srinivasa Rao, Bandaru Ramamohan Rao, Y. D. Rama Rao and Ramachandraiah took part in the media conference.