Sonia unhappy, Jagan yatra to go on

The Kadapa MP, Mr Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, in a statement issued on Monday evening said that though the Congress president, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, was for some reason not in favour of his Odarpu tour, he will resume the aborted tour from July 8 from Itchapuram in Srikakulam district and then go on to East Godavari district.

In a letter released to the media, he said he had to keep his promise to console the family members of those who died of shock in the aftermath of his father's demise. The tour was aborted in Mahbubabad, Warangal, when it met with violence from pro-Telangana supporters in the beginning of June.

After releasing the letter Mr Reddy left for Idupulapaya along with members of his family to pay his respects at the site where his father was laid to rest. He will return on July 7 and leave for Itchapuram on July 8.

In the two-page letter which was addressed to the people of the state, Mr Reddy said: “You are well aware of the obstacles I have faced during the last nine months to conduct the yatra. Some political people began looking at my yatra through magnifying glasses, but I have explained all these issues to the Congress president when we called on her on June 29”.

Mr Reddy stated that Mrs Gandhi was not in favour of the tour but did not offer any reason for it. “She said that instead of the tour why cannot all the victims families be grouped at one place and be helped then and there, but we objected to it. Particularly my mother told her when her husband (YSR) died, you came all the way from Delhi and consoled us but you never asked us to come to Delhi to be consoled there,” the letter stated.

He said that it is not a good practice to gather all the family members at one place and offer some money, since there was no demand for any money. “No one knew how much money I offered to the family members during my earlier tours and it is the not money that counts here; it is the attachment of YSR’s family to the family members of the victims.”