When YSRC chief Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy completes his Praja Sankalpa Yatra at Ichapuram in Srikakulam on Wednesday, he would have set a record with the longest walk by a politician in the Telugu states.
The padayatra was undertaken with the slogan Raavali Jagan, Kaavali Jagan (Jagan should come, we want Jagan), aimed at catapulting him to power in the Assembly elections.
When Jagan started the Praja Sankalpa Yatra in November 2017, he was rattled by the defection of 21 of his lawmakers, how had shifted to the TDP. Mr Naidu had given ministerial berths to four of them.
The Praja Sankalpa Yatra has changed the equations of the YSRC and Mr Reddy has the image of a leader close to people.
Many well-known personalities and bureaucrats joined the YSRC during his padayatra especially in Guntur, Krishna, West Godavari, East Godavari, Vishakhapatnam and Vizianagaram.
The padayatra has helped Mr Reddy interaction directly with party leaders and second rung grassroot leaders.
He was able to sort out issues without depending upon middlemen. This padayatra has made Jagan more accessible to leaders and cadres, observed a party functionary.
In 2014, voters often said they had voted for Mr Naidu instead of Mr Reddy, since he had experience and would deliver on any aspirations of a newly carved state. Mr Reddy tries to drive home a claim that he has not delivered.
Today, at the end of 340 days of March Mr Reddy unveiled a pylon and held a massive public meeting. The challenge, however, would be to keep up the momentum till elections in April.
