YS Jaganmohan Reddy ends record yatra, slams Naidu for ‘betraying’ state The marathon padayatra with which YSR Congress president Jaganmohan Reddy hopes to ride to power in AP came to an end on Wednesday. Jagan, who entered the town in Srikakulam to a thunderous reception, unveiled a pylon to mark the feat and later also addressed a public meet. The padayatra by YSR Congress president Jaganmohan Reddy will go down in history as one of the longest walks by a politician in India. It is the longest walk by an opposition leader in South India. Only the padayatra undertaken by former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar beats the walk by Jagan.Jagan walked 3,648 km from his native Idupulapaya village in Kadapa to Ichchapuram in Srikakulam district. Incidentally, both Kadapa and Srikakulam are backward districts, their rich and varied natural resources notwithstanding. Jagan becomes the first politician in Telugu states to cross the 3,000 km mark. His sister Sharmila, who covered 2,800 km on foot, comes next.A look at the history of padayatras in India reveals that it was the father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi, who first undertook a mega march for a public cause. Gandhi walked 272 km as part of the famous Dandi march from Sabarmati on March 12, 1930. The 24-day march marked a new phase in non-violent civil disobedience movement in British India.After Independence, Vinobha Bhave was the first leader to undertake a padayatra. Incidentally, the padayatra began at Pochampalli near Hyderabad. It remains the longest-ever padayatra in the country, covering about 58,000 km. Bhave, who began the padayatra in April 1951, continued the movement for land donation (Bhoodhan) for 13 years. In Telugu politics, former CM YS Rajasekhara Reddy became the first politician to cross the 1,000 km mark in padayatra. He began his walk on April 9, 2003 and covered 1,470 km for 64 days. The next year he came became the CM.Andhra CM N Chandrababu Naidu’s padayatra lasted 208 days, starting October 2, 2013, during which he covered 2,340 km. He returned to power in AP in the 2014 polls.

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