| Author | Message | ||
     Esperanza Mudiripoyina Bewarse Username: Esperanza Post Number: 21839 Registered: 08-2004 Posted From: 91.152.96.187 Rating: |
Naidu yatra in coastal dist big hit Guntur: Despite his ‘pro-Telangana’ stance, TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu has got good response for his padayatra in the coastal region. Naidu had entered the coastal region amidst apprehensions that he might face the wrath of the people following his much-publicised letter to the Centre on the Telangana issue. It is widely perceived that Naidu had almost favoured bifurcation of the state despite opposition from the Seemandhra leaders within the party. While the party leaders from Telangana hailed the contents of his letter to the Centre, their counterparts in the Seemandhra region remained tightlipped. The silence of the Seemandra leaders, however, had helped Naidu complete his walkathon in the T-region without much trouble. Leaders from the Seemandhra region feared that the issue could haunt them during his padayatra in the region. Amidst such uneasiness, the TDP chief entered Krishna district on January 21. Except the hungama created by Congress MP Lagadapati Rajagopal and his aides on Day One, Naidu’s yatra has been successful in the last 20 days. In fact, locals were seen thronging Naidu’s meetings at many villages. “It is a significant change witnessed from his previous tours,” agreed a senior Congress leader. People paid attention to his lengthy speeches and even endorsed his remarks on corruption in public life. The TDP chief received unexpected support from the youth particularly when he took on YSRCP president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy. Although, party leaders did mobilise crowds from other parts of the districts, the locals too turned up in good numbers, which was not the case during his previous tours. Naidu spent time discussing issues like power tariff, power supply, prices of essential commodities and prices of farm products to connect with the people. Naidu’s stress on making Vijayawada-Guntur twin cities like Hyderabad-Secunderabad and develop them into IT hub floored the students and youth. “I want to develop the region into an international IT hub. I want to provide you the comfort of working from near your home towns,” Naidu said during an interaction with engineering students which obviously left an impression on them. “We believe that he is one leader who can curb the corruption and provide us new opportunities,” observed Sadineni Haarika, a student. After entering Guntur district five days ago, Naidu set his eyes chiefly on SC colonies and dalit hamlets. Earlier, the TDP was anxious about YSRCP making inroads into the SC vote bank and Naidu made a serious effort to win them back. Taking the assistance of Manda Krishna Madiga, Naidu visited almost all the Madiga dominated colonies in Guntur and lured them with his promise to implement the classification of SC reservations. While his tour in SC colonies in Guntur city were planned for just two hours, it took a whole day for Naidu to cover them as locals stopped his padayatra at several junctions. Strong votaries of the TDP, the Kammas of two-town area, planned a grand welcome to Naidu and even the colleges and schools owned by them declared holiday on Saturday. However, they were made to wait till Monday following an unexpected reception for Naidu in SC colonies, which delayed his entire schedule. TDP cadres were so far lying low after the party’s humiliating defeats in the recent byelections held in two segments including the Kamma-dominated Prattipadu in the district. However, Naidu’s walkathon seems to have changed the mood of the people. space for lease |
