Before launching the second phase of his controversial Odarpu Yatra (Consolation Tour) in Andhra Pradesh's Srikakulam district on July 8, Congress MP Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy had compared his father, YS Rajasekhar Reddy with Mahatma Gandhi.
A day before launching the third phase of his tour on Friday, Reddy and his supporters ensured that the sheer number of the former chief minister's statues in AP exceeded those of the Mahatma and B.R. Ambedkar put together.
Reddy has been touring various parts of the state to console supporters who died of shock after YSR's death in a helicopter crash last September.
On the first anniversary of YSR's death, more than 1,000 statues of the former chief minister were installed in Guntur district alone, bringing the total number of his statues in all 23 districts of the state to 20,000.
Congress sources said, a standard eight-foot high statue costs between R100,000 and R150,000. Thus, an amount between R10 crore and R15 crore was spent on the 1,000 statues installed on Thursday.
"The way Jagan Mohan Reddy's followers are going about installing statues, soon each and every house in the state may have a statue of the late chief minister," remarked Congress MP and former state Congress president V. Hanumantha Rao.
{{/usCountry}}"The way Jagan Mohan Reddy's followers are going about installing statues, soon each and every house in the state may have a statue of the late chief minister," remarked Congress MP and former state Congress president V. Hanumantha Rao.
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