Kakinada: Whenever a leader undertakes a padayatra and arrives in East Godavari district, the yatra gets stalled or jinxed for one reason or the other. Telugu Desam national general-secretary Nara Lokesh experienced the same when he arrived at Razole constituency in the BR Ambedkar Konaseema district, formerly known as East Godavari district.
It was also that some leaders who had to halt their yatra in East Godavari went on to grab power and rule the state.
Some 20 years ago, Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy of the Congress undertook a padayatra through the state in the run-up to the 2004 elections. When he arrived at Burugupudi of East Godavari, he fell seriously ill. The yatra was halted and he underwent treatment for more than a week. Congress leaders K.V.P. Ramachandra, Vundavalli Arunkumar, late Jakkampudi Ramamohan and others arranged medical treatment for YSR at the campsite. He recovered, resumed the padayatra and won the 2004 polls to become chief minister and form a government.
Chandrababu Naidu undertook a padayatra before the 2014 elections but had to break it at Murari village in Jaggampeta constituency for three days. He rushed to New Delhi in view of sudden political developments. In the 2014 elections, he took charge as chief minister.
Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy undertook a padayatra before the 2019 elections. Though there was no halt for him, he had to spend two more days over and above his schedule. Later, he won the polls and took over as chief minister.
Amaravati capital farmers started an agitation, undertook a padayatra and came to Rajamahendravaram. Violent incidents took place in the city between the farmers and the YSRC followers led by MP Bharat. They stopped the yatra at Ramachandrapuram. After a few months, the farmers went to Arasavilli by bus and took the darshan of Lord Sri Suryanarayana Murthy.
Now, the Telugu Desam general secretary Nara Lokesh arrived in Razole constituency only to learn that his father Chandrababu Naidu was arrested at Nandyal. Lokesh rushed to Vijayawada after temporarily cancelling his padayatra.
Former Rajamahendravaram MP Vundavilli Arunkumar who accompanied YSR in his padayatra, told Deccan Chronicle that these halts were only a coincidence and too much need not be read into their halts.
A resident Yalla Rambabu of Pedapudi mandal said political leaders should be clean in their minds. “Otherwise, Godavari would cleanse them of their sins. East Godavari district has a famous temple and it would do the cleansing.”
