Naidu's Maiden Statewide Padayatra from Nov 2

RYTU PORU YATRA

TDP chief to highlight farmers' problems during tour


Hyderabad: Three years ahead of the general election, leader of the opposition N Chandrababu Naidu has decided to embark on a statewide padayatra in support of farmers' cause from November 2.
It will be the first padayatra by Naidu who has been in politics for 32 years.
Though Naidu took a leaf out of his bete noire the late YS Rajasekhara Reddy, his padayatra will not be a continuous one like Reddy's. Naidu will go on a 15 to 20 km padayatra in each district everyday. He will take two or three days of break after every spell of the yatra.
Naidu will cover 330 to 440 km in 22 districts by walk in the next one month or so. ``My padayatra is intended to mobilise farmers against the government," Naidu told reporters here on Thursday.
Though the TDP chief claimed that his yatra was in no way connected to politics, it will help his party regain its lost glory in the state. The padayatra will come at a time when Sakala Janula Samme was called off and YSRC party chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy is facing a CBI probe into his illegal assets.
Yet, it is a not a rosy picture for TDP. It has been facing desertions from the party ranks in the Andhra and Telangana regions. Naidu's yatra is intended to highlight farmers' plight and also consolidate the party's base to face the 2014 electoral battle.
Naidu will expose alleged government's inefficiency and YSR Congress corruption in the Andhra region. He will also highlight the "shady Polavaram tender" during his "Rytu Poru Yatra".
Naidu will tour Rayalaseema on the first leg of his padayatra to counter the surge of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, and Telangana later.
Naidu, who always thinks globally and acts locally, is linking the agrarian crisis in India to the latest Wall Street protests in the US. The US protesters planned to descend on Wall Street recently in expression of anger over a financial system which favours the rich at the expense of ordinary citizens.
"At the Wall Street, US citizens displayed their anger over economic inequalities. The situation is the same in our country. Around 80 per cent of farmers are in debts. Economic inequalities are widening further at the expense of farmers. Farming should be profitable and farmers themselves should decide the price of their produce," he said.


Schdeule
Nov 2: Anantapur
Nov 3: Kadapa
Nov 4: Kurnool
Nov 7: Prakasam
Nov 8: Guntur
Nov 9: Khammam
Nov  10: Nalgonda

Demands
* All 700-odd mandals should be declared drought-hit
* Paddy MSP should be fixed at Rs 2,150 per quintal
* Rs 10,000 per acre as compensation to those who lost crops
* Crop insurance with village as a unit


Physical fitness
The TDP chief is 62 now. Asked about undertaking a padayatra at this age and his physical fitness, Naidu says: "I have decided to undertake the yatra as I have no other option to solve farmers' problems. When farmers are in dire straits, it is not fair to consider our comforts and health".

Timing of yatra
Is it a good strategy to go on the yatra three years before elections?
"My padayatra is not political. My aim is to solve farmers' problems. Though crops in 37 lakh acres have dried up, the state and central governments are insensitive," he claims.

Padayatras in past
August 7, 2010: Tirupati to Tirumala, demanding cleansing of TTD administration
August 16, 2011: NTR Bhavan to Ambedkar statue in Hyderabad in support of anti-graft crusader Anna Hazare

Seven-day fast
Naidu was forcibly administered fluids on December 23, 2010 breaking his seven-day fast on farmers' problems