A padayatra with intent: After politicians, a former Andhra bureaucrat walks the long walk with an eye on the elections

YSR’s son and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, literally followed in his dad’s footsteps, and also clocked a record 3,648 km in 2017. He came to power in 2019.

Currently, Naidu’s son Nara Lokesh is on his way to set a new record of traversing 4,000 km on foot in the hope of bringing the TDP back to power in 2024.

And now, a retired IAS officer has embarked on a padayatra from Tada in Nellore to Tuni in East Godavari “to feel the pulse of the people”. However, most observers view GSRKR Vijay Kumar’s yatra as a launchpad to realise his political ambitions.

Kumar had earlier been the district collector of Prakasam and later, ex officio secretary in the Planning Department. While in service, he was known among colleagues as “A to Z Vijay”, and for hanging around Chief Minister Jagan.

The bureaucrat had once praised the YSRCP leader, drawing inferences from the Indus Valley civilisation to several kings and chief ministers to drive home one point: Jagan’s reforms were the best and his initiatives will be etched in history. Bureaucrats praising politicians is not new, but Kumar took the less-trodden path down to the Bronze Age and back to sing paeans about Jagan.

Now there are whispers that Vijay Kumar is eyeing a YSRCP ticket to contest the 2024 polls from one of the reserved Lok Sabha constituencies, Bapatla or Tirupati, or an Assembly segment in West Godavari.