Sharmila gets rousing welcome in Telangana

Skirting around the controversial Telangana issue, YSR Congress Party leader Sharmila, after entering Mahbubnagar district on Thursday, said: “I pay my tributes to those who laid down their lives for Telangana. Please do not end your lives. Let us all save Telangana. I swear in the name of sacrosanct Telangana that Jagan Anna will fill each and every house in Telangana with joy. He will wipe the tears from your eyes.”

When Sharmila’s padayatra entered Pullur from Kurnool after crossing the Tungabhdra bridge, she was accorded a rousing reception. A huge crowd, which had collected in the morning, waited until she arrived in the village.

Several people sat on rooftops and watched as Sharmila spoke, explaining how committed YSR and Jagan Mohan Reddy were in improving the living standards of the people of Telangana.

She, however, did not say whether she or her party was in favour of formation of Telangana state. Rather, she laboured to explain how much her late father had cared for the region.

“Rajasekhara Reddy loved Telangana so much that he began his padayatra in 2003 from Chevella in Rangareddy district which is in the Telangana region. After he became the chief minister, he signed the file relating to provision of free power to agriculture pumpsets, a majority of which were in Telangana. Even in his Jalayagnam, which was the flagship programme of the government, Rajasekhara Reddy ensured that the region benefited most,” Sharmila said.

Earlier, Vijayamma said neither YSR nor Jagan was against Telangana state. She said that YSR had wanted people of all the regions to remain together but it was his personal opinion and he never tried to force it on anyone.

On the other hand, he had respected the sentiment of the people of Telangana (for a separate state) and recalled Rajasekhara Reddy leading a CLP team of 41 MLAs to Delhi seeking creation of a Telangana state.

Vijayamma said Jagan Mohan Reddy too respected the sentiment of the people of the region and had gone on record saying that he had no power to stop Telangana if it was delivered, which indicted that it was an issue that had to be resolved by the Centre, and not him. He in fact demanded that the Centre should brook no more delay to resolve the issue, she said.

The kind of response that Sharmila and Vijayamma received came as a surprise to many who had expected a cold reception to them since Jagan Mohan Reddy is perceived in the region as an integrationist.

As soon as Sharmila climbed to the top of the bus to address them, the crowd kept throwing flower petals at her.

Sharmila came down on ministers and Rajaya Sabha members who are what they are now because of the generosity of the late YSR for keeping quiet when the CBI named him in the FIR. She wanted to know whether this cannot be termed back stabbing. She said no one can stop the rising sun implying Jagan Mohan Reddy.

“God will get him out of prison because God is always on the side of those who are virtuous,” she said.

Sharmila, who began her padayatra at Idupulapaya on October 18, covered Kadapa, Anantapur and Kurnool districts walking a distance of 466 km.

She will be on padayatra in Mahbubnagar, Rangareddy and Nalgonda districts before entering Guntur district. She will march through Telangana districts for about a month.