In yet another tall promise, YSRCP President YS Jaganmohan Reddy on Friday said that West Godavai district in Andhra Pradesh will be named after revolutionary freedom fighter Alluri Sitharama Raju, if his party was voted into power in the 2019 elections.
He was addressing a large gathering at Undi as part of his ongoing Praja Sankalpa Yatra.
Alluri Sitarama Raju was born on July 4, 1898, and is widely credited for leading the 'Rampa revolt' against British colonisation, mobilising tribals in East Godavari and Visakhapatnam districts in the early 20th century.
He also fought against colonial laws implemented by the British, like the Madras Forest Act, 1882, which greatly affected tribal people in the region.
Alluri even went underground for a short period of time, before he resurfaced, and was finally gunned down on May 7, 1924 by the British. He was since dubbed 'Manyam Veerudu' or 'Hero of the jungles'.
This announcement by Jagan comes just weeks after he declared that he would rename Krishna District in Andhra Pradesh after former state Chief Minister and TDP founder NT Rama Rao, if he was elected to power in 2019.
Taking to Twitter later, Jagan said, "NTR garu devoted his life to the service of Telugus, especially the downtrodden. As a tribute, standing on his home ground Nimmakaru, I pledge to rename Krishna district as 'Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao (NTR)' district.”
Jagan also met with a section of NTR's relatives, who were against the TDP government, and expressed their support to the YSRCP.
Jagan launched his six-month-long 'padyatra' or foot march in November last year, virtually kicking off his campaign for the 2019 assembly elections.
He said that he will cover 3,000 km across all 13 districts of the state to interact with people and know their problems.
The Leader of Opposition began the foot march after paying tributes at the grave of his father and late Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy at Idupulapaya in YSR Kadapa district.
Jagan hopes to recreate the magic of his late father YSR, who had launched a similar 'padyatra' to end nearly a decade-long rule of Chandrababu Naidu in undivided Andhra Pradesh in 2004.
IANS inputs