Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy announced on Wednesday that he will launch another padayatra in one and a half years. Reddy had stormed to power in 2019 after a similar padayatra, after he had crisscrossed the state and listened to the grievances of the people.
Hoping to recreate the past magic, the YSRCP chief announced the padayatra while addressing party activists in Eluru, while accusing the TDP-led NDA government of severely weakening every institution in the state.
With the next Assembly elections slated for 2029, the YSRCP chief might launch his padayatra in 2027. He assured, “We will launch another padayatra after about one and a half years. I will remain among the people and fight for their issues. I urge party workers to work unitedly to strengthen the party in the Eluru constituency.”
Reddy has skipped attending the Legislative Assembly ever since the new government came to power. Instead, he has concentrated on visiting various districts to boost the morale of party activists after YSRCP was dealt a devastating defeat in the last elections. He has been at the forefront whenever various issues have cropped up, accusing the government of neglecting them. He has been particularly vocal about the public-private partnership model for state medical colleges, which had been conceived by his government.
Reddy’s father, YS Rajasekhar Reddy, had also come to power in unified Andhra Pradesh in 2004, defeating N Chandrababu Naidu following a long padayatra. Apart from YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, Naidu’s son and current minister Nara Lokesh had also undertaken a similar padayatra before TDP and its allies defeated YSRCP in the 2024 elections. With Padayatras considered to be a tested and robust strategy to come back to power, no wonder Jagan Mohan Reddy is keen to go back to it before the elections in 2029.