Yuva Galam padayatra: TDP fully charged up to face 2024 election
The Hindu
The Yuva galam padayathra undertaken by TDP national general secretary Nara Lokesh has boosted the election prospects of the party in the 2024 assembly elections. He was able to cultivate rapport with different sections of people during the yathra. TDP leaders are confident of a landslide given that the YSRCP are in a disarray and marred by intra-party strife.
The month-long Yuva Galam padayatra of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national general secretary N. Lokesh in the undivided Prakasam district appears to have reinvigorated the opposition party to face the 2024 Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in Andhra Pradesh.
At a time when a wave in favour of the YSR Congress Party (YSCRP) was sweeping across the State in 2019, the TDP was still able to win four of the 12 Assembly seats in the district in the election that year. However, the MLA from Chirala, Karnam Balarama Krishnamurthy, switched over to the YSRCP after the polls.
The walkathon has come as a big boost to the TDP and has given the much-needed impetus to improve its performance in the next elections, feels TDP State vice-president D. Janardhana Rao. ‘‘We will definitely win a majority this time as the ruling YSRCP is in disarray’‘, he said.
The ruling party is in an unenvious position with groupism coming to the fore in many Assembly constituencies, including Kondepi, S.N. Padu and Giddalur. Sitting MLAs and those opposed to them are washing dirty linen in public and had come close to blows on different occasions.
During the Padayatra, Mr. Lokesh met and built rapport with different sections of people, including farmers, youth and women. There was a groundswell of support for Mr. Lokesh during the padayatra after he covered a distance of 2,200 km near Ongole and highlighted poll promises to ameliorate the living condition of those who struggle to make a living in the wake of the tax burden and soaring prices of all essentials, sources close to Mr. Lokesh said. He also exposed the ‘commissions and omissions’ of the YSRCP government.
Public attendance in the padayathra peaked at Addanki, represented by party MLA G. Ravikumar. The walkathon has also put to test the abilities of sitting MLAs and party in-charges in the district in mobilising people for the event and help Mr. Lokesh shortlist probable party candidates for the coming elections.
![](/newspic/picid-1269750-20240611003910.jpg)
The Opposition Congress demanded that the government open the Gandhi Vatika Museum, depicting Mahatma Gandhi’s legacy and freedom struggle, built at a cost of ₹85 crore in Jaipur’s Central Park last year, during the Congress-led regime in Rajasthan. The museum has not been opened to the public, reportedly because of the administration’s engagements with the State Assembly and Lok Sabha elections.
![](/newspic/picid-1269750-20240610192527.jpg)
Almaya Munnettam (Lay People to the Fore), group in the Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese of the Syro-Malabar Church opposed to the synod-recommended Mass, rejected a circular issued by Major Archbishop Raphael Thattil and apostolic administrator Bosco Puthur on June 9 to implement the unified Mass in the archdiocese from July 3.
![](/newspic/picid-1269750-20240610183344.jpg)
Pakistan coach Gary Kirsten stated that “not so great decision making” contributed to his side’s defeat to India in the Group-A T20 World Cup clash here on Sunday. The batting unit came apart in the chase, after being well placed at 72 for two. With 48 runs needed from eight overs, Pakistan found a way to panic and lose. “Maybe not so great decision making,” Kirsten said at the post-match press conference, when asked to explain the loss.