*YS Jagan gears up Party for local polls*

Tadepalli, Oct 1: YSRCP President and former Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy held marathon consultations for nearly nine hours on Thursday to prepare the party comprehensively for the upcoming local-body elections.
The meetings, held at the YSRCP Central Office from 11 am to 8 pm, brought together Regional Coordinators, district presidents and senior leaders. YS Jagan reviewed the political and organisational situation in each district separately, discussed the party’s grassroots strength, election preparedness and candidate selection for municipalities and municipal corporations.
Party leaders told YS Jagan that cadres were enthusiastic and ready to face the elections. They said there was growing public dissatisfaction over the coalition government’s governance, implementation of election promises and unresolved local issues, and expressed confidence that YSRCP would perform strongly if the elections were conducted freely and fairly.
Several leaders also raised concerns over what they described as intimidation of YSRCP cadres, misuse of the police machinery and delays in issuing certificates required by candidates to contest the elections. They said such problems were already being reported from several areas.
YS Jagan said the party should be prepared to face any situation with courage and contest the elections democratically. He directed leaders to strengthen coordination from the village level to the district level and stand firmly with party workers.
He stressed that candidate selection should be based on local conditions, public acceptance, organisational strength and commitment to the party, and said selections should be made through consultation and consensus.
YS Jagan also said public anger over the coalition government’s policies was growing and asked the party machinery to remain fully prepared for the local-body electoral battle.