Special prayers for Jagan all over AP

State-wide prayers, special poojas, homams and padayatras are being conducted on an unprecedented scale, for the early release of the most popular leader in AP today--YSRCP President and Kadapa MP, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.

The manner in which adherents of all religions are conducting prayers for Jagan is a reflection of his popularity and his emergence as the tallest leader in the state. If anything, Jagan's 123 day imprisonment has only exposed the meanness, viciousness and diabolical nature of the plotting and conniving politics indulged in by the ruling Congress and the opposition. Both the Congress and TDP closed ranks hoping to take on Jagan at the hustings, but failed miserably in their efforts.

What was it that riled the Congress leadership to start with? The fact that he wanted to keep his promise to the people, a promise he made at Nallakaluva after the tragic demise of his father and the former Chief Minister of AP, the late Dr. YS Rajasekhara Reddy. A promise to visit every single family in which a member had taken his or her own life, or had died out of sudden shock on learning about the death of their beloved leader. Jagan was not someone who would go back on his word. Remaining true to his word is in his DNA.

When the local Congress leaders and their bosses at the centre saw the growing popularity of Jagan as the undisputed inheritor of Dr. YSR's legacy as reflected in the Odarpu Yatra, they tried every dirty trick in the book to discredit him. They were rattled by the unprecedented response he drew wherever he went. Men and women, the young and old flocked to see him and listen to him wherever he went. Jagan's detractors within his party could not digest this and resorted to slander and vicious propaganda. They even ganged up with the opposition to spread canards, disputing the fact that so many people had died or had given up something most precious to them--their life--on hearing about the tragic death of the great leader.

Jagan was forced out of his party by his detractors, who felt threatened by his emergence as the unrivaled leader of the masses in AP. After his exit from the Congress, Jagan founded the YSR Congress Party and led it to record-breaking victories in every single by-election since then, be it his own election from Kadapa to the Lok Sabha or the by-polls in June. Significantly, he was arrested on the most frivolous charges and in the most unlawful manner on May 27, two weeks before by-polls to 18 Assembly seats and 1 Lok Sabha constituency were to be held in June. The results proved to be a resounding slap in the face of the ruling party and the TDP alike. The YSR Congress Party romped home in 15 of the 18 assembly constituencies and won the Nellore Lok Sabha seat by a thumping majority. The Congress barely managed to win 3 seats, while the TDP stood decimated.

In Jagan, the people of Andhra Pradesh saw the true inheritor of YSR's legacy. They identified themselves with him because they saw in him, one of their own. He championed the causes of the suffering poor, be it the farmers, students, weavers, workers, widows or pensioners. It pained him to see how Dr. YSR's welfare schemes were getting watered down completely and as the people everywhere flocked to his meetings, they poured out their woes to him.

Neither the ruling Congress nor the TDP could take Jagan on politically. So, they resorted to trickery and deceit, aided by their allies in the media. Jagan, who was neither an MP nor an MLA, neither a Minister nor an officer, who in fact, had never stepped into the State secretariat and had been staying in Bengaluru with his family, was accused of having benefited from the issue of GOs with which he was in no way associated. To this day, the CBI has not been able to prove a single charge against him. In fact, it was forced to admit in the AP High Court the other day that he was in no way involved with the Vanpic case.

The people of the state have been watching the drama being enacted by the CBI at the behest of its political bosses. They are witness to the unlawful arrest of Jagan and how the CBI dragged its feet in the probe against Chandrababu Naidu's disproportionate assets. They have been watching how it's soft-pedaling the case when it comes to the ministers responsible for the issue of the GOs in question. That's the reason why they are hoping and praying for Jagan's release soon. Special prayers are being conducted in temples, mosques and churches across the state by the YSRCP President's followers. Some have set out  on padayatras. Others have gone to Tirumala, many of them climbing the seven hills on their knees. For instance, in the Sri Siva Mahankali Hanumanthagiri Kshetra in Nanakramguda, five types of special homams were conducted on Thursday. Others have walked from towns and villages in Guntur and elsewhere to the Kanakadurga temple in Vijayawada. People have immense faith in the judicial system and in God's justice. They know their prayers will be answered soon.
-sakshipost