Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Wednesday said his government delivered welfare measures worth Rs 86,000 crore to people belonging to the backward classes (BCs) in the last three years.
Another Rs 77,000 crore was given as part of various other schemes aimed at the empowerment of the backward classes.
"They are 'backbone classes' and not backward classes. In the last three-and-a-half years, we have fulfilled the promises made to them, including the establishment of a permanent BC Commission that was the first in the country," the Chief Minister said, addressing the 'Jayaho BC' rally organised by his YSR Congress in Vijayawada.
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Reddy alleged that injustice was meted out to the BCs in the previous Telugu Desam Party (TDP) rule.
"Now, we have made the BCs part of power, giving them due representation in all posts. We have stood as the model for BCs' political empowerment," Jagan told his party rank and file.
Exhorting his party cadre to inform former chief minister Chandrababu Naidu about the measures that have been taken, the YSRC chief claimed the 2024 elections would be the last one for the TDP chief.
"There is not one good thing that Chandrababu (Naidu) can claim to have done for the BCs. He is once again trying to deceive you through lies," Reddy told his cadre.
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He said the state government has established 56 corporations for the welfare of 139 backward communities.
Ministers, MPs and legislators belonging to the backward classes, called the Chief Minister a "reformer who has ushered in a social revolution".
While other parties used the backward classes as vote banks, Reddy shared political power with them, they claimed.
Assembly Speaker T Sitaram, Deputy Chief Minister (Panchayat Raj) B M Naidu, ministers Ch S V Krishna, K N Rao, MPs M V Ramana, P S C Bose, R Krishnaiah and others addressed the rally.
-With PTI Input
