KHAMMAM: Summoning the mood when her late father YS Rajasekhar Reddy took out his historic Praja Prasthanam Padyayatra on this day 18 years ago, Y S Sharmila, in a prelude to launching her party, called Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao to account on the promises he had made to various sections of society, including the jobless youth, farmers, minorities and other disadvantaged sections like the tribals who have been fighting for ownership rights on podu lands.
Though she deferred the launch of her party to her father’s birth anniversary on July 8, she did not leave much to imagination as to what the party’s philosophy would be and how she intended to go forward. She made no secret of her intention of fighting not only the TRS but also the other two Opposition parties — Congress and the BJP — which were “all working hand in glove”. “They appear to be fighting with the TRS but all of them are chips off the same old block,” she said.
As the launch of the party is three months away, she announced an agitation programme, apparently to sustain the momentum, which includes a three-day hunger strike by her at Hyderabad from April 15 and from then on, relay hunger strikes by the leaders of the party all over the State every day till such time the State government comes out with a notification for filling 1.91 lakh jobs in the government as promised by Chandrasekhar Rao.
Sharmila, who reached Khammam, the district where her father has a significant number of followers, looked simple in her light yellow saree with a blue border, woven by Pochampalli workers of Telangana. The public meeting began in the evening several hours behind schedule. After her mother Vijayalakshmi, spoke about YS Rajasekhar Reddy’s commitment to welfare of the people, Sharmila took over, taking the TRS government to the cleaners. When Vijayalakshmi referred to her son Jagan Mohan Reddy in her brief address, there was an electrifying response from the crowd.
Sharmila arrived at the dais cheering the audience. Before beginning her address, she imitated her father, by raising her two hands in a long loop of traditional namaskar. She began her address by reminiscing about her father which drew cheers from the huge audience. Unlike in the past when she used to be very vehement in asserting herself, Sharmila appeared very measured in driving home her observations about the TRS government and how she intended to fight with it on behalf of the people who loved and revered her father.
She also cleared the air about how she would protect the rightful share of Krishna waters with Telangana, in the wake of an impression gaining ground that she may not be able to do since AP Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy is her brother. Though she did not refer to him directly, her assertion that she would not allow the Telangana’s interests to be compromised, come what may, gave enough indication that she would not mind in taking him on, when the crunch comes.
Comparing her father’s rule of more than five years with that of Chandrasekhar Rao throughout her address, she said she was going to launch the party to expose the latter on how he went back on all his promises and also how rampant corruption had been in the construction of Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme whose estimates KCR had hiked to `1.3 lakh crore, for, according to her, to pocket the hefty kickbacks.
“The Congress has turned into a company which supplies MLAs to the TRS and the BJP has nothing to offer to the people except fomenting communal passions. There is a need for our party to question the government on its omissions and commissions. You are not alone, I am with you. I am not alone, you are with me. Together, let us fight KCR who has crushed Telangana’s self-respect under his left foot,” Sharmila said and asserted that she respected the Telangana movement but regretted several youths had to lay down their lives for achieving a separate state.