Padayatra: mother asks central force security for Jagan

YS Vijayamma, YSR Congress honorary president and mother of YS Jaganmohan Reddy on Sunday demanded protection by central forces for her son, as he is resuming his “Praja Sankalpa Padayatra” from Monday. Jagan is leaving for Visakhapatnam on Sunday to start Padayatra from Payakapadu of Makkuva block in Vizianagaram district by 8.30 am on Monday.

Jagan was forced to stop his padayatra after a Visakhapatnam airport cafeteria staffer attacked him with a knife on 25, November as he is on his way to catch a flight to Hyderabad to attend a CBI court. Jagan received a wound on his left shoulder that required nine stiches and three weeks of bed rest.

“This is nothing but re-birth for my son who faced an assassination attempt on his life inside the airport. He is alive because of the prayers of the people who have loved and blessed his father late YS Rajasekhar Reddy for 30 years,” Vijayamma said addressing media at the YSRC party headquarters at Lotus Pond here. She informed that Jagan is fully recovered and is ready to embark on his walkathon.

“I was hurt, as the ruling party in Andhra Pradesh didn’t even leave me and my daughter Sharmila from the conspiracy theory. They (TDP) ridiculed my son’s travel to Hyderabad immediately after the attack. There is no progress in the case even after three weeks after the attack on my son,” Vijayamma said expressing fear for Jagan’s life during the Padayatra. She further said that the attack would have been fatal if the attacker didn’t miss his aim.

“We demand a thorough and impartial investigation preferably by a neutral institution into the conspiracy behind the attack,” Vijaya said. She wondered how the ten-page letter allegedly found with the attacker J Srinivas Rao is so crisp and new and said that it was a letter created and the TDP to shift blame on YSRCP by projecting the attacker as a YSRCP activist.

“I urge the people of the state to take the responsibility of protecting Jagan during his Padayatra and the government not to harm him. We have lost his father and shudder at the thought of missing him,” Vijayamma said.

Jagan has so far completed 294 days of his Padayatra covering 3211.5 kms in 12 districts. His yatra went through 122 Assembly segments and 205 blocks. The last phase of his yatra will pass through Vizianagaram district for 20 days. However, doctors advised Jagan not to lift his hand and avoid crowded places.

The AP state government, on the other hand, has doubled security for the opposition leader and advised him to avoid direct interaction with unknown people and to avoid selfies.