VIJAYAWADA: Even as mercury levels were climbing, thousands of supporters of YS Jaganmohan Reddy, chief of YSR Congress Party and Leader of Opposition, gathered at Kanaka Durga Varadhi in the city on Saturday to welcome him. It looked like a river of people surging over the bridge towards Vijayawada from Guntur, as Jaganmohan Reddy continued his 136th-day of ‘Praja Sankalpa Yatra’. Till date, he completed 1,750 km in 61 Assembly constituencies in the State.
In next one month, he will cover approximately 280 km across 13 Assembly constituencies. As soon as he stepped into Krishna district, former MLA Yalamanchili Ravi, along with his followers, joined the YSRCP as he announced earlier. The former MLA, who till recently was with TDP, expressed his dissatisfaction over the ‘neglect, lack of respect and opportunities’ in the ruling party. “Our family has suffered twice at the hands of the TDP. I cannot trust it anymore,” he said.
He said unlike the TDP chief, YSRCP president Jaganmohan Reddy will ensure fruits of development reached everyone in the State. Ravi, who won 2009 elections on PRP ticket, has considerable influence in Vijayawada East Assembly constituency and his shifting to YSRCP is being seen as a setback to the TDP in the city. A prominent Kamma leader, Ravi’s entry into YSRCP can split the Kamma votes, which the TDP is confident of winning.
As the ‘Praja Sankalpa Yatra’ passed through main thoroughfares of the city, several hundreds of people vied with one another to meet the YSRCP chief and pour out their grievances. In his customary style, he listened to them while giving assurance to do the needful. “I came all the way from Ajit Singh Nagar to see Jaganmohan Reddy. We trust him,” said Saira Bano, while waiting at Kotha Vanthena during the lunch break. Lakshmi, who works as a cook in Karmala Bhavan near Kotha Vanthena, was disappointed for not being able to see Jaganmohan Reddy.
“I waited here for four hours, but I could not see him, as police pushed us away,” she rued. K Adinarayana Reddy, a former sarpanch in Gorantla mandal of Anantapur district, who has been following Jaganmohan Reddy from day 1 of ‘Praja Sankalpa Yatra’, predicted Jagan’s Government in the State after the next elections. “I followed his father’s ‘Praja Prasthanam’ 15 years ago and now I am following him.
I will continue till Ichapuram,” said the 60-year-old. Later, addressing a large public gathering at Chittinagar, Jaganmohan Reddy lambasted the TDP government for utter ‘neglect’ of poor in Vijayawada. Criticising the Vijayawada West MLA Jaleel Khan, who defected to TDP, he said for the person who ‘thought Physics was taught in BCom and sold himself to other party, problems of people are not visible’. He questioned the propriety of ‘tantric pujas’ in Durga temple for the wellbeing of Chandrababu Naidu. He also found fault with the TDP government for allowing over 300 liquor shops in the city.
Likening the capital city construction to magnum opus, Jagan said, “The film has only the antagonist dictating the show, but at the end, protagonist enters the scene, bashes up the antagonist and puts him behind bars.” He said Naidu often goes to foreign countries, gets inspired and says capital Amaravati will be modelled on the latest city he visited. “But till now there have been no permanent structures,” he said and accused the Chief Minister of resorting to insider trading and purchasing lands in the capital region in the name of benamis.