Vijayawada: Support for Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy continued to pour in from the diaspora of Andhra Pradesh in Gulf countries. As a mark of commemorating the completion of the 1,000-km of the Praja Sankalpa Yatra, NRIs of AP held the “Walk with Jagan Anna” procession in the UAE, Kuwait and Qatar on Friday.
Attending the walk in Sharjah National Park, UAE, a group of NRIs said that despite coming from humble backgrounds, they could pursue quality higher education through the fee reimbursement scheme initiated by Y.S. Rajashekhar Reddy during his regime and were working in big MNCs now. They also pledged their support for Mr Jagan in the upcoming election.
The NRIs in Kuwait also turned out in large number to attend the walk in Maliya city. Jaswanth Naidu, who works in an investment banking firm, said “We believe Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy will implement a special policy for NRIs to encourage them to return to India.” NRIs also urged Mr Jagan to come up with a zero red-tape investment policy for NRIs to invest in Andhra Pradesh. It would help in generating employment and reducing migration to a great extent, they said.
There was a rising trend of active NRI participation in the state election. So far, more than 200 NRIs from different countries had taken part in Jagan’s yatra at different points of time. In the wake of Central government’s attempt to allow proxy voting for NRIs where they would be allowed to vote from the country they were residing in, the role of NRIs in Indian politics was likely to go up.
At the walk organised in Doha, Qatar, Suryanaryana from Anantapur said he was worried about the poor infrastructure in rural Andhra under the present government. He mentioned about the absence of a higher secondary school or a health centre in his native village. NRIs were now looking for an alternative government in Andhra Pradesh in the next election, he added.
Started from Pulivendula in Kadapa, the 3,000-km walkathon of Mr Jagan to Ichhapuram would be completing 1,000 km in Saidapuram, Venka-tagiri constituency of Nellore, on January 29. The walk event was being planned in the US, the UK, Singapore, Australia, China and Malaysia on January 28.
