Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Wednesday announced introduction of 1 kg rice for Re 1 for below poverty line families in the state, a move that is being seen as an attempt to upstage the populist schemes of late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy. He had introduced Rs 2 per kg rice scheme ahead of elections, for which he is still remembered in the state. “This government has understood the hunger of the poor... All those with white ration cards will be given 1 kg rice for just Re 1,” the CM said, launching the scheme at a public meeting in his native district Chittor. The scheme will benefit more than 2 crore families, who will get 20 kg rice every month, costing the state exchequer Rs 2,600 crore in subsidy — Rs 600 crore more than what it was paying to give rice at Rs 2 per kg. The CM is learnt to have gone ahead despite strong objections by the Planning Commission. The scheme is expected to be implemented from November 1, the Andhra Pradesh Formation Day. The government will need 3.3 lakh metric tonnes of rice for distribution every month. Taken off-guard by the CM’s announcement, Jaganmohan Reddy’s YSR Congress Party said the scheme was an effort to take on YSR’s popularity. “They will be doing a lot more good if they first properly implement the schemes already started by YSR,” said MP Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy, who supports the YSR Congress Party.