Yellow fever grips coast

VV Balakrishna
First Published : 06 Nov 2008 09:12:00 AM
NAGARJUNA NAGAR (Guntur Dt):

The Telugu Desam Party seems to be riding high again in Coastal Andhra.


That the bounce is back after a dispiriting four and a half years, was evident from the beaming faces of party leaders and cadres, for the turnout at the Yuva Garjana here far surpassed everyone’s expectations.

D eployed after almost 13 years, it looks as if the film glamour of the NTR clan will stand the party in good stead in the coming elections.

Balakrishna, Harikrishna, Kalyanram and Taraka Ratna attended the meeting, and their fans accounted for a large expanse of the yellow sea that the venue resembled.

Though the meeting was scheduled to begin at 4:30 pm, TDP activists and fans began pouring into Vijayawada and Guntur early in the morning itself. By 2:30 itself the 100-acre venue of the meeting was filled to capacity. The enthusiasm of the audience was undiminished all through -- right up to the close of the meeting at 7:30 pm and well after.

Especially lusty were the cheers for Balakrishna and party chief N Chandrababu Naidu.

“The meeting will go down in the annals of the political history of the State. It is not likely to be matched in future,’’ exulted Naidu.

The success of the meeting also sent a clear signal to the TDP that it had taken the right decision on statehood for Telangana issue, with the Yuva Garjana being the party’s first public meeting after it’s U-turn on T. Many TDP activists said they had no objection to a separate Telangana, as the development of Andhra too would accelerate after bifurcation.

Said an ebullient youth, Rajendra from Krishna district: “I never expected such a large crowd at a TDP meeting after Chiranjeevi’s launch. I am so thrilled at the response!’’ Ninety percent of the audience were aged between 18-35. As youth would play a key role in the next elections, this was a big morale booster, said an activist. The biggest attraction, undoubtedly, was Balakrishna with every punchline, often drawing on dialogues from his films, eliciting delirious cheers, especially: “Kanti chooputo Congress avineeti nirmulista’’.

“I saw on TV Chiranjeevi addressing meetings in Srikakulam. But the dialogue delivery of Balakrishna was simply superb. Balaiah is an asset to the TDP,’’ gushed Ramarao, a party worker from Attili.

Harikrishna too assured the crowd that the heroes from the NTR family would imbue in every household in the State the urge to vote out the Congress.

The speeches of Balakrishna and Naidu focused on Congress’ corruption.

The former did not make any reference to Chiranjeevi or Praja Rajyam, but the latter pooh-poohed the PRP’s slogan on bringing about a change in politics.

A fter Balakrishna completed his speech, senior TDP leaders on the dais vied with one another to congratulate him. And Chandrababu Naidu was seen flashing a smile time and again during the three-hour meeting.

vvbalakrishna@epmltd.com