The Love Shown By East Godavari Remains Etched In Memory  

Kakarapalli, East Godavari District: As I complete my Padayatra in both the Godavari districts and step into the northern Andhra region, I am reminded of my father, the late Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy‘s words that the people of these districts treat you as one of their own. It is my good fortune that I too have received the same amount of love and affection which he did.

The fact that about a third of my Padayatra was spent covering these two districts, itself is a measure of the overwhelming love showered by the people here. The rousing welcome I received on the bridge at Rajamahendravaram will remain forever etched in my memory. Praja Sankalpa Yatra entered the East Godavari district with thousands of people accompanying me, as a drizzle came down to welcome us.That was two months ago. The heavens opened up again as thousands of people came with me walking shoulder to shoulder with the walkathon stepping out of Tuni constituency in East Godavari district.

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This seemingly prosperous district with its fertile appearance, is home to a host of problems at the grassroot level. In spite of several welfare schemes being in place, very little percolates down to the poor and needy. As for the middle class, it is torn between rising cost of living on the one hand, and limited income, on the other. I could hear the screams of the poor suffering from pangs of hunger in this district celebrated as Annapurna. In areas where the mighty Godavari flowed freely, I saw people unable to slake their thirst, pining for drinking water.

Coconut farmers, labourers, including migration labourers and workers drawn from different strata of society poured out their woes to me. Aqua farmers are in distress. The Kerala of Andhra, Konaseema, shocked me with its crop holidays and migration of farm labourers.

Equally distressing was the fate of suffering fishermen especially seen against the fact that Andhra has been blessed by nature with a long and rich coastline. The attitude of the TDP government with respect to the unkept promises to victims of the Nagaram tragedy, is unpardonable, to say the least, as is the plight of villagers who lived in Lanka islands. Their lives seem to hang by a thread under an insensitive government as one boat tragedy after another revealed.

It was despicable to see the behaviour of the rulers who denied families of farmers who had committed suicide, compensation due to them. To see small shops being turned into liquor outlets and the auction of belt liquor shops was another painful aspect of reality, which revealed the ugly face of the TDP government.

In six months the Kapu community would be included in the list of BCs, loans would be waived, these were among the promises made by those who came to power. What did they give the people of this district instead? Sand and soil mafias, the looting of all possible natural resources and interminable harassment. No wonder the widespread indignation among people here against the ruling TDP is evident everywhere.

People came spontaneously in large numbers to my public meetings and interactions, from Rajamahendravaram to Tuni. Thanks to their overwhelming love and support, the Padayatra in these parts, as elsewhere, was a huge success. For me, it is a memory which will last a lifetime.

I have a question for the chief minister —in the 2014 elections, the people of this district extended their support to you by electing 14 of the 19 candidates here. As if this was not enough, you bought over turncoat MLAs and finally, what did you and your party leaders do for this district, except loot it in every possible way? Do you even remember the promises made to people of this district? Have you fulfilled at least one of the commitments made to this district in the legislative assembly?