Friday, January 04, 2013

Their grass was greener

Two CMs who bravely defied anti-incumbency and emerged trumps in both assembly and Lok Sabha elections

The people of Andhra Pradesh and Orissa seem to be dwelling in a wave of pro-incumbency at the moment. This is obvious seeing how their respective CMs – YSR Reddy and Naveen Patnaik – have had a smooth ride in both the state and assembly elections. In the case of the former, its supporters say that Reddy’s plank to back women empowerment paid rich dividends when it won 156 out of 294 assembly seats and emerged as the largest contributor to the Congress kitty at the centre with 33 out of 42 Lok Sabha seats.

On the other hand, Naveen Patnaik’s party BJD literally conquered Orissa; winning 103 out of 129 seats in the state assembly and 14 out of 21 seats in the Lok Sabha. It is the state’s most comprehensive mandate ever.

In an interview, Patnaik attributed his success to the robust pro-poor agenda that his government initiated. “We had launched several safety-nets for our below the poverty line (BPL) population like the Rs.2 rice scheme, the Gopabandhu pension yojna and housing schemes for the poor known as the Mo Kudia Yojna. People responded to it and appreciated it. We are happy that we succeeded in spreading our irrigation programmes for farmers as well as the paani panchayat systems for the control of water by the farmers.’’

Now he want’s to continue where he left off. A normally reticent Naveen outlined his post-poll priorities, “My first interest is pro-poor programmes, meant for a large tribal and scheduled caste population. We are also keen on irrigation schemes for farmers. We have to generate revenues and job guarantees.’’


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
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