A few months before the 2004 assembly elections, Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy went on a 68-day ‘padayatra’ through 11 districts and walked straight into the seat of power in Andhra Pradesh. Now, it is the turn of the opposition Telugu Desam Party’s chief N. Chandrababu Naidu to try his luck. He kicks off his ‘mee kosam (for you)’ yatra; not on foot but in a converted ‘chariot’ on April 21. Other YatrasL.K. Advani Advani is a true yatra veteran, having gone on at least seven such yatras. But the defining one was the rath yatra of 1990, when he traveled throughout central and north India with the aim of building a Ram temple at Ayodhya. He has gone on several yatras since that big one. Apart from the Bharat Uday yatra of 2004, in December 2005, soon after the murder of BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai, Advani went on a Nyay yatra in eastern UP to "highlight the "rampant criminalisation of politics" in the state. Soon after the Varanasi blasts of 2006, Advani and Rajnath Singh took out ‘Bharat Suraksha’ yatras. Uma BhartiIn 2004, Uma Bharti went on a tiranga yatra soon after she stepped down as Madhya Pradesh chief minister over the Hubli tricolour row. Narendra ModiOn October 26, 2002, soon after the Gujarat riots, Chief Minister Narendra Modi launched a yatra called the "Gujarat gaurav yatra", with each stage of the journey beginning from a temple.Sunil DuttActor-turned politician Sunil Dutt undertook a Sadbhavana yatra in 2003 to "strengthen the values of secularism and promote harmony".NaiduApril 21, 2008 to September Chittoor, Cuddhapah, Nellore, TelenganaYSRApril 9, 2003 to June 17, 2003Rangareddy, Medak, Nizamabad, Karimnagar, Warangal, Khammam, west Godavari, East Godavari, Vizag, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam.The yatra: Naidu is undertaking the yatra in the same month that YSR started his padayatra in 2003—in the scorching heat of April. While YSR started his marathon 1,500-km walk from Chevella in Rangareddy district in west Andhra Pradesh, Naidu chose to start from Dalitwada in Chandragiri in Chittoor district down south, after seeking the blessings of Lord Venkateshwara at Tirumala on April 20.Motive: YSR started his padayatra 10 months before Naidu’s second term as chief minister was supposed to end. Calling it his walk for empathy, YSR caught the pulse of the rural folk, especially farmers, who were suffering due to failed crops and a spate of suicides and starvation deaths. Saying the people in the rural areas needed a balm after nine years of bad governance by Naidu, YSR made a slew of promises including free power. Five years later, it is Naidu’s turn to do the same and is planning to target YSR over corruption, failed governance, irregularities and unsuccessful implementation of government schemes.Tour plan: YSR: It was a greater test of strength and will for the Congress leader who walked through 11 districts—Rangareddy, Medak, Nizamabad, Karimnagar, Warangal, Khammam, West Godavari, East Godavari, Vizag, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam. He ended his tour at Icchapuram in Srikakulam on June 16.Though Naidu will travel in a furnished and air-conditioned vehicle—a DCM Toyota leased to him by Amar Singh that he is calling his ‘ratham’ or chariot—it is a grueling tour that aims to cover all the 294 constituencies. That’s 23 districts over 150 days. With Naidu insisting that he wants to hold village-level meetings in many key constituencies, it is going to take a toll on the former chief minister. "His tour plans are being altered so that he gets to cover the assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies that go to the bypolls on May 29,’’ says TDP coordinator Janardhan Rao.
