April 24: Political leaders from various parties suspended their election campaign in Kadapa for a day due to the sudden death of Satya Sai Baba. The Telugu Desam president, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu, who was scheduled to take a three-day campaign for the Kadapa elections had boarded the Venkatadri Express on Saturday night and reached Tadipatri in Anantapur district early on Sunday for a brief halt.
After a four-hour stay, when he about the start his campaign from Jammalamadugu Assembly segment adjacent to Tadipatri, the news of Sai Baba’s demise came in. Mr Naidu contacted the Satya Sai Trust members at Puttaparthi to confirm the news and cancelled his campaign in Kadapa. He later left for Puttaparthi. TD sources said that Mr Naidu will hit the campaign trail from Monday and attend Sai Baba's funeral on Wednesday. The YSR Congress party president and former Kadapa Lok Sabha MP, Mr Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and his mother, Ms Y.S. Vijayalakshmi, who is contesting from the Pulivendula Assembly seat, were attending the Easter celebrations in Pulivendula church. They cancelled their campaign for the day. Mr Jagan rushed to Puttaparthi to pay homage to the departed soul. The former chief minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, former minister, Mr J.C. Diwakar Reddy, who were also in Kadapa, cancelled their election meetings and left. Reports from Kadapa said that several Congress and TD leaders also suspended their electioneering for today.
