Season of Padayatras in AP, political heirs in race for power

Tirupathi: Four decades after celluloid hero NT Rama Rao hit the road with the pioneering Rath Yatra, which catapulted him to power in united Andhra Pradesh, yatras or roadshows continue to be the most popular means for political parties and leaders to reach out to the voters.

Even in the age of social media, when likes and shares define a campaign’s success, parties of all hues continue to bank on yatras to get across their messages.

Though both assembly and LS elections are far away, leaders from the ruling YSR Congress and the opposition Telugu Desam are chalking out plans to organise Padayatras.

This time, it is the turn of heirs of politicians to go on a Padayatra to test their fortunes. With latest technology at their disposal and the advent of social media, Nara Lokesh, son of Telugu Desam chief Nara Chandrababu Naidu and “sons and daughters” of some ruling party MLAs are planning yatras.

With an eye to regain the TD’s electoral support, Lokesh would undertake a 450-day padayatra through AP. He would launch the yatra from Sankranti day next year from Chittoor and end it in Srikakulam in March 2024. The route map and other political programmes are being worked out, say the TD sources.

Notably, some YSRC MLAs' sons and daughters are actively participating in the current Gadapa Gadapaku Mana Prabhutvam (GGMP) initiative, to reach out to voters and apprise them of the YSRC government’s welfare works.

Though the chief minister has made it clear that family members of sitting legislators will not be given seats in the 2024 polls, some “children” have been mingling with the public under GGMP. Rumours are that they do this with the intention of getting party tickets.

Such political heirs, whose names are doing the rounds on social media, are P. Krishna Murthy (son of Perni Nani), S. Prasad, (Samineni Udaya Bhanu), B. Praneeth Reddy (Balineni Srinivas Reddy), T. Prithvi Raj (Thota Trimurthulu), Karthik Reddy, (Shilpa Chakrapani Reddy), B. Abhinay Reddy (Bhumana Karunakar Reddy), Ch. Mohith Reddy (Chevireddy Bhaskar Reddy), M. Rishika, (daughter of Mekathoti Sucharitha), B. Pavitra (Biyyapu Madhusudan Reddy) and K. Sravani (Kolagatla Veerabhadra Swamy.

While a majority of these young YSRC leaders have already taken up the walkathon under the GGMP initiative, Ch. Mohith Reddy, son of government whip and Chandragiri MLA Bhaskar Reddy launched a Maha Padayatra in Tirupati rural’s Mangalam area on Friday. The yatra would cover all the 1.42 lakh houses in the constituency, reach out to voters and understand their problems.

Mohith and his supporters will walk 1,600km in their attempt to reach every house and village in the constituency, which would take over 200 days to complete. Mohith’s march is being seen as a precursor to his ambition to step into his father’s shoes in the 2024 assembly elections.