Telangana: YS Sharmila to begin record-breaking 4000-km foot march today

YS Sharmila, the younger sister of Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, is set to undertake a padayatra (foot march) on Wednesday to “understand people's problems and find solutions” in context with her allegation that 7,000 farmers had committed suicide in the past seven years in Telangana during the rule of chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR). Sharmila, the founder of the YSR Telangana Party, had made her allegations in an official press statement released last month and laid out details about the foot march that she said will begin from October 20. In the padayatra to be launched today, Sharmila, according to reports, aims to cover 4,000km in 400 days.

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The foot march in Telangana is expected to cover 90 constituencies across the state, barring the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) area, according to details laid out in the YSR Telangana Party press release. “The purpose of the padayatra is not only to hear and know the problems of people but also to find solutions to those problems,” party founder Sharmila was quoted as saying in the press release.

Elaborating on the allegations raised over farmers' deaths, YS Sharmila said that attacks on Dalits in Telangana have increased by 800 per cent during KCR's rule, while liquor sales grew by 300 per cent and so did attacks on women. She said that a padayatra – a strategy undertaken by former chief minister late YS Rajasekhara Reddy – is an ideal way to hear out the people and find solutions to the problems regarding any issue.

“Following in his (former chief minister late YS Rajasekhara Reddy) footsteps, we are also going to undertake padayatra for almost a year from October 20,” she said in the press release. “It is 'Praja Prasthana Yatra'”.

Meanwhile, YS Sharmila also hit out at the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), alleging that they have sold themselves out to the KCR-led Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS). She added that her party, the YSR Telangana Party, would also enlighten the people about this issue.