A backward class Chief Minister for Telangana and promise to develop it into a prosperous State, a new capital for Seemandhra with world- class infrastructure including a bullet train between the capitals of the two States, free cell phones for women to ensure their safety and an Islamic Bank for Muslim community in both the States were the highlights of the separate manifestoes Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu released for the two States.
With the customary yellow cover with the photo of a beaming Naidu, the two documents contain promises of freebies to almost every section of society.
The party has showered the promises of sops including waiving off the debt of farmers and self help groups of women, nine hour free electricity to farmers, free houses to the poor.
TDP has also promised to fight for national status for the Chevella-Pranahita irrigation projects in Telangana. In a bid to find an innovative solution to the demand for power by the farmers, Naidu said that if his party comes to power it will install solar powered pumps with 75 per cent subsidy.
To soften the heart of Telangana people, who were unhappy with his ambivalent stand on the issue of separate state, Naidu promised Rs1 million financial assistance to the families of the youth and students who had committed suicide for Telangana.
TDP, which was thrown out of power in 2004 by the angry farmers, as agriculture sector crisis resulted in unprecedented suicides by thousands of farmers, has now promised to write their debts off and supply nine-hour free power to the agriculture pump sets.
Writing off the debts will be the first file, Telugu Desam Government will sign after taking the charge, the party has declared.
Interestingly when YSR government had introduced free power supply for the farmers in 2004, Naidu had ridiculed it saying it will render the electricity supply lines useless. Congress Government has been supplying free power to farmers for seven hours a day for the last ten years.
Naidu has now promised to close down all the belt shops or the unlicensed outlets of liquor in the villages. It was a long pending demand of women in the State.