TDP manifesto promises free colour TVs, cash for poor

Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh's main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) Thursday released its election manifesto promising free colour televisions to the poor and cash doles of Rs.1,000 to Rs.2,000 per month for poor and middle-class families if the party is voted to power.
Releasing the 64-page manifesto at the party headquarters NTR Trust Bhavan, TDP chief N. Chandrababu Naidu said food, health and financial security for the people was his party's goal. The former chief minister said the TDP was committed to the welfare of all sections of the people, including farmers, backward classes and minorities.
Under the cash transfer scheme promised in the manifesto, each family in the poorest of the poor category will get Rs.2,000 every month, a poor family will get Rs.1,500 and a middle-class family Rs.1,000 through the banks.
Naidu termed it revolutionary and the first of its kind scheme in the country. He said the scheme, borrowed from some Latin American countries, would provide economic security to the poor and the middle-class families and meet their basic needs like food every month.
Referring to his promise of a colour television to every poor family, Naidu said: "The idea is to ensure that after a day's hard work, people should relax by watching television."
According to him, the sale of colour televisions through shops had already dropped after the TDP released highlights of the manifesto a few days ago.
The TDP president also launched the party's election campaign at Medchal near here by addressing a public meeting.
Alleging that the Congress government was neck deep in corruption, he appealed to the people to bring the TDP back to power for an efficient and transparent administration.
Naidu, whose party lost power to the Congress party in 2004, will campaign non-stop over the next 13 days in the state that holds simultaneous assembly and Lok Sabha polls next month. The TDP is contesting elections to the 294-member state assembly and the 42 Lok Sabha seats in alliance with the Telangana Rashtra Samiti, the Communist Party of India and the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M).