It's padayatra time for political parties

Hyderabad, Dec 5 (INN): It is padayatra time for all political parties in the State and every political party has hit the road in one form or the other.

Dr YS Rajasekhar Reddy's padayatra before 2004 elections has been a mega hit and now all parties are following the example what with the talk of elections looming large and there is certainty of a snap poll.

Polls or otherwise, TDP wants to redeem its lost pride and N Chandrababu Naidu hit the road and treaded over 1,000 km and is in Telangana after covering Rayalaseema.

He is a worried man with his party losing in all the by-elections, some of the leaders deserting the Party, not to speak of differences with the Nandamuri clan popping up very frequently.

His poor health and age are also being projected to give hype to his mass contact programme and he is touring Telangana for the second time as the Party has a strong base despite TRS presence.

YSR Congress has fired Sharmila like a missile into the political arena with YS Jagan Mohan Reddy being in jail and YS Vijayamma giving way for younger blood.

Sharmila started her padayatra obviously from Idupulapaya, where her father was cremated and covered the entire Rayalaseema and is now in Mahboobnagar. There has been some resistance but that has been ignored and she is going ahead in Telangana region.

Chief Minister N Krian Kumar Reddy too has been converting the launching of welfare schemes and inauguration of projects into a mass contact programme and has become very vocal about the Congress Party and its policies.

TRS cannot be far behind and has started Pallebata, what with two Seemandhra leaders crisscrossing the terrain and attracting huge crowds.

The surprising card in the pack in the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, which is also going on a mass contact programme to enlighten the people about the Congress designs in joining hands with fundamentalists and losing its secular character.

The one-legislator party Lok Satta is also at it with the Party President Jai Prakash Narayana going on a three-day hunger strike in a fight against corruption.

BJP has earlier conducted a Telangana yatra which gave them Mahboobnagar seat.

All the programmes are seen as an exercise to finalise candidates for the ensuing assembly and Lok Sabha elections depending on the mobilisation power when the leaders on their course of padayatra, we hear someone say.