The ‘Maro Praja Prasthanam’ pada yatra of Sharmila is reaching 100th day on Sunday. The young woman who never was seen in public until her father Dr. Y S Rajasekhara Reddy was killed in a sad helicopter accident and her brother Y S Jaganmohan Reddy was jailed, came out and took on seasoned politicians like the TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu and the chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy.
She and her mother Y S Vijayamma, considered frail women, shocked political biggies by sweeping the by-elections. They attracted the entire nation by the victories they achieved trouncing politicians of decades of experience.
Despite an accident and a surgery which forced her to break her arduous journey, Sharmila walked 1400 km, covering 7 districts. She proved herself to be a charismatic leader. She could efficiently retard the countless allegations being leveled at her late father, brother and even her husband Br. Anil Kumar. Some even alleged that she got imported shoes that themselves walk. They made this strange charge that it was her boots that were walking and not her. No one knows if such boots were ever invented. But politicians invented these boots and attributed them to Sharmila. With Jagan’s continued incarceration, Sharmila proved to be the new hope of the party and booster of the sagging morale.
She has surprised even the political pundits by attracting large gatherings at a time when Chandrababu Naidu has been relentlessly touring the state on foot, as a last attempt to come back to power. If Chandrababu has been focusing on the YSR congress instead of the ruling congress, it reflects the impact made by Sharmila and the fear she caused in the mind of a man who is known as a political genius who ruled the state for nine years.
Sharmila started her pada yatra on October 18, last year, praying at the resting place of her father in Idupulapaya in Kadapa district. No one was surprised when people thronged to see her in their native Kadapa district. But she maintained that same charisma throughout. Even party ranks feared when she entered the Telangana region. She managed to pass through, by diplomatically handling the sensitive Telangana issue in her speeches. She passed through Anantapur, Kurnool and entered Telangana at Mahabubnagar, where she received a rousing welcome. She passed through Rangareddy and Nalgonda districts to enter Guntur where she would complete her century.
Sharmila fell down while alighting from her vehicle in Rangareddy district and sustained an injury to her knee. She completed 58 days of yatra, covering 822 km by then. She underwent a knee surgery in the Apollo hospital and took rest for a month on the advice of doctors. Opposition TDP made even this a controversy and alleged that she was faking the injury. Some newspapers favouring the opposition published and telecast stories that there were differences in the YSR family and Bharati, wife of Jagan was jealous of Sharmila becoming a big leader. Some reports said Sharmila was angry that the Kadapa parliament seat was promised to someone else and stopped her yatra as a protest. Unfazed by the criticism and the unfounded charges, Sharmila continued, smiling at the people and spitting fire at her opponents.
Sharmila is continuing her yatra braving heavy showers and scorching sun. A medical team is visiting her every now and then and conducting medical tests. Her mother Vijayamma, sister-in-law Bharati, MP Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy, Vasireddy Padma and several others are accompanying her every now and then. Party leaders are happy that she is keeping the morale of the ranks up. With the congress party taking a decision to disqualify 9 of its MLAs who voted against the government during the no-confidence motion division, the party is now gearing up for the possible by-elections.
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