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YS Sharmila begins 4,000km marathon march; Telangana’s KCR is her prime target
YS Sharmila, sister of YSR Congress party president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, said the padyatra was the first step to end the dynastic rule of KCR or K Chandrashekar Rao’s Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).
HYDERABAD: YSR Telangana party president YS Sharmila on Wednesday kick-started her marathon padayatra (march) aimed at ending, what she called, the “autocratic rule” of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) president K Chandrasekhar Rao and bringing back “Rajanna Rajyam,” the welfare state envisioned by her father YS Rajasekhar Reddy who died in 2009.
Sharmila’s mother YS Vijayalakshmi flagged off the padayatra after a massive public rally at Ranga Reddy district’s Chevella town from where her husband YS Rajasekhar Reddy started his 1,500km “Praja Prasthanam” padayatra across united Andhra Pradesh in 2003 and brought the Congress party to power in 2004 assembly elections.
Addressing the rally, YS Sharmila, sister of YSR Congress party president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, said she was going on a marathon padayatra to end the “arrogant and dictatorial rule” of KCR, as the chief minister of Telangana is known.
“Today, I am taking the first step towards heralding a welfare state in Telangana and dethroning the dynastic rule of the TRS. I shall touch every village and meet every villager during my journey,” she said.
Vowing to expose the alleged corruption of the TRS government, YS Sharmila described KCR as the worst chief minister of any state in the country and accused him of pushing the revenue surplus state into a debt-ridden state with indiscriminate borrowings.
“Hundreds of educated unemployed youth have died by suicide due to lack of employment opportunities and many others turned into daily wage workers. Though official records say there are 1.90 lakh vacancies in the state, the TRS government has not issued a single job notification so far,” she said.
Sharmila also accused the TRS government of neglecting the weaker sections. “After TRS came to power in 2014, KCR announced that he would make a Dalit as the first chief minister of Telangana. He also promised three acres of land to each Dalit family. But he did not fulfil even a single promise. On the contrary, atrocities on Dalits have gone up during the TRS regime. He also has not done anything for OBCs (other backward classes),” she said.
She also criticised the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), blaming them for not taking the TRS government to task for corruption. “The Telangana Congress president A Revanth Reddy has no guts to fight against the government, as he was involved in the cash-for-vote scandal. The BJP is hand-in-glove with the TRS and has not been able to prove the cases against KCR,” she said.
Vijayalakshmi said only Sharmila could make the Bangaru Telangana (golden Telangana) a reality. “My daughter has the courage and commitment to fulfil the aspirations of the people and dreams of late YSR,” she said, appealing to people to bless her daughter.
Sharmila hopes to break all the records as part of her walkathon. YSRTP official spokesman Tudi Devender Reddy said as per the route map, she would undertake padayatra for nearly 4,000 kilometres across the length and breadth of Telangana state in a span of 14 months covering 90 assembly constituencies. “On average, she will walk for 12-15 km a day,” Reddy said.
The previous record in the padayatras is held by her brother Jagan Mohan Reddy. He walked a distance of 3,648 km over a span of 341 days starting from November 6, 2017. The “Praja Sankalpa Yatra” ended on January 9, 2019, months before people voted in Andhra Pradesh’s April 2019 assembly elections. His party won 151 of the assembly’s 175 seats, and YS Jagan Mohan Reddy succeeded in replacing TDP’s N Chandrababu Naidu.
According to Sharmila’s schedule for the foot march, she will walk a distance of 10 km from Chevella and halt at Nakkalapalli village. “Every day, she will begin the padayatra at 8.30am and take a break at 12.30pm. She will resume the walk at 3pm and conclude at 6pm,” the party spokesman said.
She will hold a “Mata Muchata” (chit-chat) programme at the location selected for the night halt where she intends to interact with villagers to hear their problems.
The schedule and route for her padayatra has been mapped out by a team of the Indian Political Action Committee (IPAC), the political consultancy group founded by political strategist Prashant Kishor.
“She is expected to touch at least three blocks in each assembly constituency. In all, she will address nine big public meetings,” the party spokesman said.
