YSRCP files intervention application in Supreme Court

Vijayawada: The YSRCP filed an intervention application in the Supreme Court on Wednesday justifying the welfare programmes undertaken by the State government stating that ours is a welfare State.

Represented by general secretary of the YSR Congress Party V Vijayasai Reddy and filed by senior Supreme Court advocate on record Mahfooz A Nazki, the intervention application (IA) in the writ petition filed by Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay on the freebies extended to the poor to lure the voters.

It may be recalled that Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the DMK had already filed intervention applications in the same writ petition.

The YSR Congress Party justifying the welfare programmes it had undertaken for uplifting the poor, recalls that the Constitution of India declares India to be a socialist republic and it is the responsibility of the governments to take measures that ensure that the egalitarian goals are attained.

Without due regard to the objectives of some of the government programmes, the petitioner has chosen to refer to them as freebies, the IA pointed out. The State bifurcation has caused widespread economic deprivation in the successor State of Andhra Pradesh. Owing to the inequitable reorganisation, the successor State of Andhra Pradesh inherited 58 per cent of the combined State's population but only 45 per cent of the combined State's revenues.

Added to this, the policy paralysis in the State during the period 2014-19 has resulted in many crucial sectors such as education, health and agriculture, demonstrating poor performance.

Confronted with the above, it was essential that the new government in which the people have overwhelmingly reposed faith, implement impactful programmes to mitigate the distress, the application said.

It would not be appropriate to regard the initiatives of the governments formulated in adherence to the principles fundamental to governance, enunciated in Part – IV of the Constitution of India, in areas such as education, health, woman empowerment, agriculture, housing, poverty upliftment and support to the old and needy, as freebies.

The application prayed the Supreme Court to permit the applicant to intervene in the Writ Petition No 43 that is filed by Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay.