Andhra Man Who Sold Vegetables To Head Civic Body, Thanks Jagan Reddy

After sweeping the municipalities and municipal corporations in Andhra Pradesh, the YSR Congress Party, in a heartwarming gesture, made a vegetable seller as the Chairperson of a municipality in the state.

The ruling party on Thursday made Sheik Basha the newly elected Chairperson of the Rayachoty Municipality. Mr Basha, who holds a degree, told NDTV that life has taken a u-turn since he was picked by the chief minister to contest the municipal polls.

"I thank Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy for giving someone like me the opportunity to be the Chairperson of the Rayachoty Municipality. Despite being a degree holder, due to unemployment, I had to sell vegetables in my village to survive. I had no direction in life. It was then that YSR Congress gave me the opportunity to contest on a councillor's ticket. Now, I have been elected to be the Chairperson of the municipality. The chief minister has catered maximum number of seats to the backward communities in the state. We thank him for doing so and encouraging people from the economically backward sections of the society, like me," Mr Basha said.

The YSR Congress swept 84 out of 86 municipalities/municipal corporations in the state. The most praiseworthy aspect of the election was that the Jagan Mohan Reddy-led party gave 60.47 per cent of posts to women and 78 per cent of posts to the backward communities.