Grain Drain ; the Rs 2 Per Kg Rice Scheme Relaunched by the Andhra Government Marks the Start of the Electoral Silly Season and Is Likely to Trigger Competitive Populism As the State Gets Ready for Assembly Polls.

Summary

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Inflation is going through the roof but if you are poor and a resident of Andhra Pradesh, you are not likely to feel the pinch. It's not because of Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy's ability to rein in prices, but because of his penchant for unabashed electoral populism.

The relaunch by the Congress Government of the subsidised rice scheme offering a poor family 20 kg at Rs 2 a kilo on April 9, two days after Ugadi, Telugu New Year's Day, has been clearly done with an eye on the assembly elections less than a year away.

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Extract

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Grain Drain ; the Rs 2 Per Kg Rice Scheme Relaunched by the Andhra Government Marks the Start of the Electoral Silly Season and Is Likely to Trigger Competitive Populism As the State Gets Ready for Assembly Polls.

While Reddy kickstarted the scheme at Jadcherla in the backward Mahbubnagar district, his ministers, legislators, MPs and party leaders took up the baton at 41,884-odd fair price shops across the state.

Legislators of other parties, too, participated in the launch in their constituencies as the Rs 2...

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