There was a lot of buzz before it began and there were also many predictions that it won't go the way it should. But then, Nara Lokesh made tall claims that no matter what, the Padayatra named 'Yuvagalam' will go as planned. The plan was to cover 4000 kms in 400 days at an average of 100 kms per day. This in itself sounded very unrealistic to many.
But then, the TDP top brass and even Lokesh vowed that everything will happen and their mind is made up. The schedule was locked and plan was confirmed but even before a month was completed, the Yuvagalam has seen so many speed breakers leading to cancellation of the yatra a few times.
One day Lokesh complained of fatigue and he covered only 3 kms. Another day, he ended up spending the whole day for a meeting and avoided the padayatra. Lastly, he called a holiday on the eve of Mahashivaratri. As such, the Padayatra has nothing to do with the festival so it is not sure why Lokesh took that call. Incidentally, when the schedule was released in the beginning, it was clearly asserted that even if festivals fall in between, it is not going to stop the Padayatra.
Anyways, the latest update is that the demise of Nandamuri Taarakaratna has put the Padayatra on hold. Earlier, Lokesh said it would be a one day break but now it has gone to 3 days break citing various reasons. All in all, it appears that Yuvagalam which was scheduled for 400 days might end up getting completed in 500 days or so. Those who are watching all this are saying Lokesh is giving all kinds of excuses which is damaging Yuvagalam in a big way. It remains to be seen what Chandrababu Naidu is going to do about all this.
