Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national general secretary N. Lokesh completes 2,000 km of his ‘Yuva Galam’ padayatra on July 11 (Tuesday). Describing the Jagan Mohan Reddy government as ‘anarchic’, he vowed to end the YSCRP rule in the State.
His padayatra entered Kothapalli village in Kavali Assembly segment as the TDP activists accorded a grand welcome to Mr. Lokesh on his 153rd day of the walkathon.
Unveiling a plaque to mark the milestone, Mr. Lokesh promised that Fisheries Development Board would be set up if the TDP was voted to power and that it would help fishermen including the shrimp farmers eke out a decent living.
A special pooja was performed at the Veera Brahmendra Swamy temple on the occasion. ‘‘Today is an unforgettable day in my life. I am overwhelmed by the love and affection shown by people during the walkathon,” said Mr. Lokesh.
He exhorted the youth to join him in the movement to unseat the ‘inept’ YSRCP government, alleging that it brought misery to all sections of people. ‘‘Let us dedicate ourselves to rebuild the sunrise State of Andhra Pradesh by bringing back the TDP to power,” he said.
Walking on an average 13.5 km each day, Mr. Lokesh has visited 1,297 villages in 195 mandals and received 2,895 petitions from the people so far.
Holding a ‘Rachabanda’ at the village square, he said the TDP would make farming profitable by increasing the capital assistance to ₹20,000 and cutting down the cost of cultivation by making available subsidised farm inputs including fertilizers and seeds and by ensuring a remunerative price for their produce through appropriate market intervention.
“The Minimum Support Price (MSP) announced for different sections of farmers remained elusive under the YSRCP regime. The farmers are enduring inordinate delays in getting paid. It is unfortunate that Agriculture Minister Kakani Govardhan Reddy has no time to address the problem of farmers including spurious seeds at a time when the State stood third in the country in farmer suicide and ranked second among tenant farmer suicide,” he said.
Mr. Lokesh also promised to bring down the taxes saying that all sections of people were suffering due to hefty hike in power tariff and bus fares.
