Jayaprakash Narayan plans to contest Lok Sabha poll

Hyderabad, March 20 (IANS) Loksatta Party president Jayaprakash Narayan plans to contest for Lok Sabha from Malakjgiri constituency here.

He told reporters Thursday that he has received several requests from people from all walks of life, well-wishers and even major political parties to fight Lok Sabha elections.

Jayaprakash was elected to Andhra Pradesh assembly in 2009 from Kukatpally constituency, one of the seven assembly segments of Malkajgiri.

It was the lone assembly seat won by the Loksatta in the last elections.

The Loksatta chief, who comes from Seemandhra, is keen on Malkajgiri as the constituency has 65 percent voters from Seemandhra (Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra).

Jayaprakash, who quit Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in early 1990s and launched Losatta as a movement for democratic and electoral reforms, turned it into a political party before 2009 elections.

He said the party would contest limited number of seats in both Telangana and residuary Andhra Pradesh (Seemandhra), where simultaneous polls for assembly and Lok Sabha are scheduled on April 30 and May 7.

JP, as he is popular among his supporters, said that the Loksatta would contest only a limited number of seats, mostly in urban areas, as the political atmosphere in the two states is surcharged and the time available for it is short.

Unveiling party's poll manifesto, he said that the time has come for ending politics of dynasty, corruption, centralization, divisions and freebies and refraining from repeating past mistakes.

"The Loksatta has drafted its manifesto not with an eye on garnering seats and votes in elections but on providing a detailed road map for facilitating development, welfare and reforms," he said.

Jayaprakash said formation of two states had only created two posts of chief ministers and two cabinets but this would not solve basic problems of people.

The former bureaucrat had initially opposed bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. In January this year, he said formation of separate Telangana state had become inevitable. He, however, mooted a formula to address concerns of all the regions.