Praja Sankalpa Yatra Diary, Day 124: That Letter Strengthens My Resolve To Serve People

Saripudi, Guntur district: In the village of Mussapuram, a woman met me during the course of my Padayatra today. Her tale of suffering shook me to the core of my being. On the half acre that she had taken on lease, they started cultivating chilli. Unfortunately for them, nature’s vagaries, compounded by an indifferent government which did not offer minimum support price to farmers, drove them into a mire of debts. They could not recover from the losses they suffered which climbed to Rs.13 lakhs. They were forced to sell the half acre which they had, but that was not sufficient to cover the borrowings. As the loan amount kept mounting, she was forced to sell her kidney to repay the debt. Can anything be more tragic? Tears streamed down my cheeks when I heard about what she had experienced. Reduced to a farm labourer, she said she was unable to work on account of her illness. Her kidney surgery left her weak and had transformed her health condition completely. Whenever Chandrababu Naidu is in power, the farmer is forced to pay a heavy price and suffers huge losses. In the past, when he had ruled over the state for nine years, farmers in Rentachintala, having to sell their kidneys to battle debts and avoid penury, had hit national headlines. The sensational news had rocked the country back then.

Once again we find farmers trapped in a similar situation. Farmers everywhere continue to suffer huge losses under the TDP rule. It is my conviction that cheer should return into the lives of farmers and their faces should sport happiness again. Every single farmer should smile again—this is my resolve.

Triveni of Perecharla had an equally tragic tale of suffering to narrate. Her story was yet another example of the worst kind of politics of deception practised by Chandrababu Naidu and other TDP leaders. She told me that in December last year near the village Repedu, her husband met with an accident while driving an auto which had a collision with an RTC bus. In this serious accident four others, all of them 10th standard students, lost their lives. Three other students suffered grievous injuries. The entire state was overcome with shock by this tragedy. Like vultures the Telugu Desam leaders including ministers descended upon the place and promptly promised a compensation amount of Rs.5 lakhs. A woman leader of the ruling party also promised a job for the wife of the auto driver. “Anna, I have been running from pillar to post hoping that this promise would be fulfilled. Alas all my efforts have proved to be futile,” she said as she wept inconsolably. What kind of politics do these leaders practice? How can they play such cheap politics over dead bodies? I hope and pray that this government which stoops to this ugly level of politics would soon be driven out by the masses whose anger is palpable everywhere.

If a good part of my day was spent listening to these tragic experiences that people are being subjected to under the TDP rule, one incident brought happiness to me. It was a precious recollection which made my day and made it seem as if cool breeze had suddenly blown by in the torrid summer heat. 70 year-old Eruva Venkata Kotireddy, who idolised my father, the late Dr. YS Rajasekhara Reddy, narrated an incident from the year 1995. He told me that he had been working in the local tobacco cooperative society at that time. My father was a member of parliament back then. He was removed from service after 14 years one fine day, on the pretext that the society was suffering from losses. He approached my father in Hyderabad, who was deeply moved by his story. “Your father did not know me at all and yet when he saw my suffering, he was profoundly touched. He promptly wrote a letter to the authorities and also called them up on phone right away. By the time I reached my office, the authorities were waiting for me to rejoin.” He showed me the letter which my father had written at that time, which he had preserved as a souvenir in his memory. I saw the 23 year-old letter preserved with such care by him and I recognised my father‘s signature. It reminded me again of the fact that I must dedicate myself completely to serving the world and needy. This conviction got strengthened even further after seeing this letter.

I have a question for the chief minister—is it not true that in your earlier tenure and current rule, farmers have been constrained to sell their kidneys? Isn’t your insensitivity towards farmers evident from this one thing? Isn’t your indifference the prime reason for farmers selling their kidneys?