Eluru (AP), May 14 (PTI) On a ‘padayatra’ (foot march) to reach out to at least two crore people across Andhra Pradesh ahead of 2019 assembly polls, YSR Congress president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy crossed the 2000-km milestone when he arrived here today.
Reddy, the Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly, set out on the ‘Praja Sankalpa Padayatra’, on November 6 last year from his native Kadapa district.
The foot march is being undertaken with the slogan “Raavali Jagan, Kaavali Jagan” (Jagan should come, we want Jagan), aimed at catapulting him to power in the assembly elections due exactly a year from now.
Reddy launched the walkathon to reach out to at least two crore people across the 125 assembly segments in 13 districts of the state, covering a distance of over 3,000 km.
Though the yatra was originally scheduled for 180 days and should have ended by now, it could stretch up to July or August, given its current pace.
“Given the huge public response and also the extreme hot climate, he is covering about 13-15 km a day. So, it may take many more days for him to complete the rest of the walkathon, a senior YSRC leader, coordinating the event, said.
The YSRC chief is yet cover West Godavari, East Godavari, Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts before the foot march culminates at Itchapuram bordering Odisha.
Reddy entered Eluru town in West Godavari district this evening and unveiled a 40-ft pylon to mark the completion of 2,000 kms of his yatra at the place where his late father Y S Rajasekhara Reddy had in 2003 addressed a public gathering during the course of his then foot march.
Within a year from then, Rajasekhara Reddy went on to become the Chief Minister (of the then undivided Andhra Pradesh).
Jaganmohan Reddy, who completed the first 1,000 kms of his yatra on January 29 in Nellore district, has made the issue of special category status to Andhra as the key theme.
Commemorating the 2000-km milestone of their leader, YSR Congress workers today organised ‘padayatras’ in all the 175 assembly segments in the state.
The state-wide yatras, “exposing the misgovernance” of Chandrababu Naidu-led TDP government, will continue tomorrow also, the party said.
They would culminate on May 16 with YSRC leaders submitting memoranda at the respective district collectorates against the ‘failures’ of the Naidu government.
YSRC MP V Vijayasai Reddy claimed that during the yatra he noticed ‘smile’ on the faces of people with a hope “Rajanna rajyam (YSRs rule) will be back.”
Party MLA R K Roja, who accompanied the YSRC chief in parts of the yatra, said it gave a renewed hope to the people by inspiring confidence in his leadership.
“People are confident that Jagan will truly guide Andhra to the top,” the film star-turned-politician said.
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