Mercury soared to 46 degrees Celsius on Sunday but braving the blistery hot conditions, women gathered in huge numbers in the village at the border of Guntur district. They waited patiently for the mother-daughter combo, Vijayamma and Sharmila Reddy, though there was hardly any shelter to take cover from the scorching heat.

Around 1.30pm, the prachara ratham of Vijayamma and her daughter Sharmila made its way into the village. Soon, more crowds joined. "We have not seen such a turnout for any public meeting in the past two decades," 70-year-old former sarpanch of Sirigiripadu village, said. Although Veldurthy is a Reddy-dominant mandal in Macherla segment, interior villages are inhabited by Banjara tribals. A good number of tribals also turned up to listen to Vijayamma and her daughter, who is now stealing the show at every road show with her speeches. Although Vijayamma made a lengthy speech, it was Sharmila who took on the rivals head-on in her public address. "Do not allow the conspirators, who threw us out on the streets, to win even a single seat," she roared.

Sharmila upped the ante and did not mince words in criticizing the political opponents. Without taking AICC chief Sonia Gandhi's name, Sharmila appealed to the voters to teach a lesson to those who rendered injustice to the family of Rajanna (her late father YSR) while enjoying the power brought by him. The masses shouted loudly in approval of her statements when she said that her brother Jagananna was jailed only because he confronted the Congress high command. She said that Jagan would be the best chief minister of the state and making him the CM is the only solution for the people of the state. She said that Congress and TDP are scared after seeing the massive public support to Jagan. She said that CBI was acting at the behest of the Congress high command and it was confirmed by its former director Joginder Singh himself.

Vijayamma said her family was being harassed only after Jagan took up Odarpu yatra. With tears rolling down her cheeks, she said, they were compelled to hit the streets to support the leaders who sacrificed their positions for the sake of farmers' welfare. YSR Congress candidate Pinnelli Ramakrishna Reddy and party convenor Marri Rajasekhar and others were also present.