Telangana Politics: Sharmila “Gifts” KCR a Pair of Shoes to Join Padayatra with Her
NEW DELHI, Feb 2: YS Sharmila, who has chosen Telangana as he political home after her brother YS Jagan Mohan Reddy became the chief minister of neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, on Thursday “gifted” a pair of brand new shoes to the Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao with a challenge to walk with her for a day if he believed, as he claimed, that the people in the state in his regime faced no problems.
“Today, I challenge the Chief Minister to walk with us for a full day and if you show us that every person in the state is happy and has no problems for you to solve, then I will withdraw from politics. I’m gifting this brand new pair of shoes to walk. This is as per your size and there is a bill to exchange in case it doesn’t fit,” the daughter of the former chief minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh YSR Reddy and the chief of the YSR Telangana Party, said.
Ms Sharmila said if she was proved wrong about the people of the state facing problems, she would “retire forever and go home”. If not, KCR must resign as Chief Minister and apologise to the people of Telangana, she stressed. “If in fact as KCR says this is the golden state, if there are no problems to the people of Telangana, if my people are not reeling under poverty as he says, then I will apologise to Mr KCR and I will retire from politics for ever and go back home,” Ms Sharmila told reporters.
“But if in fact there are problems for the people of Telangana, if in fact farmers are reeling under debt, if in fact the women are reeling under poverty, if there are unemployed, if there are suicides, if all that is true, then KCR has to resign, he has to apologise to people of Telangana and make a Dalit the chief minister as he promised.”
Ms Sharmila has been touring the state for her “Prajaprasthanam Padayatra” ahead of the Telangana election later this year. In November, Sharmila had to call off her padayatra as she came under attack from the workers of the Bharat Rashtra Samiti. Sharmila was detained twice during the tense situation.
(Manas Dasgupta)
