A man took up a journey into the hearts of the people. Months passed but his determination remained the same. From Anantapur to Karimnagar-covering six districts-he now entered another district mingling with the poor, eating their love filled food, and giving sufficient warmth to them. Chandrababu Naidu aka Babu-when he took up his padayatra Vastunna Meekosam (journey on foot) there were many questions in common man's mind. Will Babu go ahead with the tour successfully at this age? Was one of the major questions that people had. On the other hand, some leaders even pointed out at Chandrababu and said-people laughed at Vastunna Meekosam. Proving all those statements wrong, Babu went ahead with his tour and people too came forward and welcomed his padayatra.

Vastunna Meekosam (I am coming for you all)-created waves in the history of not just Andhra Pradesh politics, but in Indian political arena. A person aged above 60 is touring district to district and listening to the problems of the public. When current TDP's founder NTR started his Chaitanya Ratham (a similar kind of tour), there was massive response. It was this Chaitanya Ratham, which overthrew the Congress rule and opened new annals in Andhra Pradesh.

Chandrababu Naidu's Vastunna Meekosam is also receiving similar kind of response, if we have to go with what observers stress. In fact, Congress leader and late CM, YS Rajashekara Reddy took out a padayatra in 2003, which overshadowed TDP's image then. So far YSR's Praja Prasthanam remained as a milestone in AP politics after NTR's Chaitanya Ratham, and now Vastunna Meekosam seems to be breaking the latter's record, said observers. YSR's padayatra covered 1400 kilometres and Babu's padayatra already crossed 1000 kilometre milestone. Babu is all set to cover 2,600 kilometres by January 26.

A diabetic patient, Chandrababu Naidu was said to have used pain killers to bear with the muscle and joint pains during his massive walk. So far no prime minister responded to any such padayatra. Perhaps for the first time in the history of world politics, a prime minister enquired about the health of an opposition leader. Yes, prime minister Manmohan Singh showed concern on Babu's health when TDP MP s met him a few days ago in Delhi. So, it's no exaggeration to mention that Chandrababu's Vastunna Meekosam even dragged the attention of national leaders.

The observers said Chandrababu Naidu's victory in the forth coming elections was clearly visible. The response his Vastunna Meekosam was getting was something indescribable, added observers who also said Congress was almost on the verge of losing its power. Unless it does some miracle, the chances for (Congress) even giving tough competition to TDP are grim since YSRC is a tough competitor to TDP, said analysts. It looks like Chandrababu's Vastunna Meekosam would be etched in golden letters in Andhra Pradesh politics.

(AW Phani)