On a padayatra since Oct 2021, Y.S. Sharmila making her presence felt in T'gana

Hyderabad, Sep 11

YSR Telangana Party is also trying to make its presence felt in the crowded political space of Telangana.

Its leader Y.S. Sharmila, the daughter of former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy and younger sister of present Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, has been on a padayatra since October last year.

She reached a significant milestone on Saturday as she completed 2,000 km in her yatra. According to YSR Telangana Party (YSRTP) leaders, in the past 148 days, she reached out to more than 2 crore people to know their problems, and to assure them of a change when her party comes to power.

Last year on July 8, which happens to be the birth anniversary of her father YSR, Sharmila announced the launch of the YSR Telangana Party.

She has so far marched across 34 Assembly constituencies, 31 municipalities, 104 mandals (blocks), and 987 villages. She has already covered more territory in the state than any other leader from Telangana.

During these 148 days, Sharmila addressed 34 public meetings, where she tore into the misgovernance and wrong policies of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government.

The YSRTP leader also held 91 Maata-Muchata meetings with women across villages to understand the problems women face and assured them she would strive to address them.

She held 26 Raithu Gosa dharnas, to highlight the plight of farmers of Telangana, and demanded the government to resolve the problems farmers are facing.

To ensure the demands of unemployed youth of Telangana are met, she took part in 19 Nirudyoga Nirahara Deekshas or hunger strikes held on Tuesdays. In addition to these, Sharmila also held seven Vadla Konugolu dharnas or protests demanding the government to procure paddy from farmers.

She also held Chenetha Atmiya Sadassu on the problems faced by the weavers, Palamuru Neella Poru on the water problems of Mahabubnagar district and also one constituency cadre meeting.

Sharmila's padayatra will continue till December 2022, and she will be covering all regions of the state. In the past, she had completed a 3,000 km-long padayatra starting from her father's memorial at Idupulapaya in YSR Kadapa district on October 18, 2012.

While her earlier endeavour was to campaign on behalf of her elder brother and current Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Jagan Mohan Reddy, the current padayatra marks her entry into the politics of Telangana.