The AP Leader of Opposition, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy kicked off his Praja Sankalpa Yatra on Monday after paying tributes to his late father YS Rajashekar Reddy at YSR Ghat in Idupalapaya. Scores of people extended a warm welcome to the YSRCP chief. Jagan was accompanied by his mother YS Vijayamma, wife YS Bharathi and sister Sharmila who also paid homage to the departed soul.

After formally launching the padayatra, YS Jagan addressed a huge gathering of people at Idupalapaya. The first words the YSRCP President uttered were: "I wholeheartedly bow down to all of you in humility."

He also said that his father and late chief minister of the undivided Andhra Pradesh, Dr YS Rajashekar Reddy was alive in the hearts of the masses.

Jagan also lamented the wrongful means adopted by the AP Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu to obstruct his political ambitions. "I must be half of Chandrababu's age like his own son. But it hurts me to know that his only aim is to lay obstacles in my political path," said Jagan, adding that despite the fact that his father had left his body as long as 8 years ago, the people had stood by him like a rock and showered upon him their unconditional love for which he felt indebted.

The YSRCP chief's Praja Sankalpa Yatra will be a six-month long outreach programme, covering 3000 kms and is aimed at understanding the needs of the public on a first-hand, here-and-now basis. Apart from the day-to-day interaction with the common masses that the walkathon provides, the Leader of the Opposition and YSRCP President would gain tremendous insight from it on the current state of affairs by being on the ground in village after village. This would also help him and the other leaders to hone some of the points in the YSRCP's manifesto for the upcoming elections accordingly.