Golden era will soon come back, Sharmila tells Ananthapur ryots

As Sharmila, the daughter of late YS Rajasekhara Reddy, stepped into the perennial drought-prone Ananthapur district, barren lands, dry water tanks and a near desert atmosphere welcomed her.

The district, nestling amid flourishing Tamil Nadu on the one side, Karnataka which acquired the synonym of IT hub on the other and of course, the neighboring scenic districts of Andhra Pradesh, gave a tumultuous welcome to Sharmila as she entered the district this evening amid milling crowds as part of her ongoing Padayatra.

No sooner the famine-hit farmers of the district had an affectionate hand waving to them in that typical style of the late YSR, than they began pouring out their owes to Sharmila. That they could not hide their feelings was evident from the fact that the farmers and the farm laborers jostled with one another to come closer to Sharmila to narrate their tales.

After giving all of them a patient hearing and on noticing the prevailing drought conditions, Sharmila sharply reacted and said that her brother and YSR Congress party president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy will soon come out to save them from this testing time. This is only temporary. Reminding them the golden days of YSR regime during which they were leading a comfortable life, she said that the period will soon come back once Jagan is out of this predicament.  

“In order to make this drought-prone district, YSR had initiated several welfare schemes. But before the fruits of these schemes reached the people of this district my father died and now Jagan will certainly take them forward to ensure that Ananthapur district will find place in the fertile zone,” she said.

Sharply attacking TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu for doling out only empty promises without doing anything concrete for the uplift of the people of the district, Sharmila said “except making promises Naidu did not release even a single pie for the development of Ananthapur. This district occupies second place in drought after Rajasthan. Knowing pretty well that the Government of the day has not taken any steps to continue the Jala Yagnam projects launched by my father, the TDP is simply watching the tamasha but did not bother even to move a no-trust move to bring down this ineffective government,” Sharmila stated.

Both the Congress Government of the day and the TDP had proved that they could not live upto the expectations of the people. Thus, “show them the door,” she said.

At Ananthapur district border Sharmila was welcomed by MLAs Kapu Ramachandra Reddy and Gurunatha Reddy, convener of the district unit of the YSR Congress Sankar Narayana and other leaders.

- Prasad@sakshipost