Family reunions, tours on candidates’ agenda till May 16
TIRUPATI: With elections over and 20 more days to go for the final verdict of the voters to be made public, politicos who were in the electoral fray have changed gears and put themselves in neutral mode.
Relaxing may not be the right word, since most of them are quite anxious and biting their nails to find out what their fate would be. Since they need to wait for two-and-a-half weeks more to know the people’s verdict, they are restless, and to cover it up, they are engaging themselves in various kinds of activities.
Some have gone out on tours to other places, while others have preferred to stay put and enjoy the leisure with members of their families.
There are some who still prefer to continue what they always do — be politicians and be with the people. Even though many of them have switched of their mobile phones in order to keep the media at bay and not be drawn into the speculative game of who will win and who will not, ‘Express’ was able to contact some and find out what they were up to during the waiting period.
R K Roja, who was engaged in an intense battle of the ballot for the Chandragiri constituency, seemed a bit relaxed when contacted over phone. She said she would be going to Chennai to be with her husband and children, as she missed them a lot while campaigning for the elections.
She said she and members of her family were also planning to go on a tour to some yet-to-bedecided place. However, her opponent, Galla Aruna Kumari, seems to have different ideas.
She spent some leisurely hours with her husband and son after elections, but with repolling ordered in a polling station in her constituency, she is concentrating on it. When contacted, she said she would be tidying up the election- related work for three more days and also thanking her people.
Only then she would decide what to do till May 16.
R Chenga Reddy, minister in the incumbent government, is quite confident of his victory and is even thinking of what portfolio he is likely to get when his party forms the government. He has decided not to leave the district and wait for the outcome.
Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, who contested the Kadapa Lok Sabha seat, left for the State capital in his helicopter. When contacted, he exuded confidence over his victory and said he was not worried about the result. “It will be as usual… my business, my paper and of course, I will allocate two weeks in a month to my constituency and my people,’’ he said.
TDP leader S Raghurami Reddy, who contested the Mydukur constituency, said, “Araam haraam hai (relaxation is taboo). I am happy and relaxed when I am with people.’’ Nedurmalli Rajyalakshmi, another minister in the incumbent government, who is at present in Hyderabad, will be leaving for Delhi to attend the swearing-in ceremony of her husband, N Janardhan Reddy, as Rajya Sabha member. She said she would be returning to Venkatagiri on April 30 to attend a marriage and there after, till May 16, she will be in her house, looking after domestic affairs.
Another minister, Anam Ramanarayana Reddy, said he would be spending time in Nellore with his party people, analysing the post-poll situation and the party’s prospects. Nellore TDP president S Chandramohan Reddy, who contested the Sarvepalle Assembly seat, too expressed a similar opinion and said he would wait in the district till May 16 and spend time with his family, and, of course, with his activists.
Source: www.expressbuzz.com
Karat to attend Grand meet at Tirupati today
Karat
TIRUPATI: The Grand Alliance is holding a mega meeting at Tarakarama Stadium here tomorrow. Telugu Desam senior leader and former minister T Nageswara Rao told mediapersons here today that along with TDP
supremo N Chandrababu Naidu and his star campaigner N Balakrishna, CPM general secretary Prakash Karat and CPI senior leader D Raja will be attending
the meeting which will commence at 4 pm. Some AIDMK leaders are also likely to participate in the meeting. Rao said that it was customary for the TDP to start its Vijaya Sankalpa Yatra in Tirupati but this time it was concluding its more than a month of election campaigning. “The meeting will herald the
dawn of a new era in the political history of the State. For the past five years, the people of the State had to witness a decline in the self-respect of Telugus with the Congress Government reverting to its `Yes Delhi’ policy. It will no
longer be the case as people will send the TDP-led Grand Alliance to power to re-earn the lost pride and tear away the veil on the self-respect of Telugus.’’
Rao said that going by the voting pattern in the first phase of elections, the Grand Alliance would bag more than 110 of the 154 seats for which elections
were held and over a hundred in the second phase. Predicting the downfall of
YSR and the Congress, the TDP leader said that Andhra Pradesh was second only to Gujarat in development when TDP was in power but today thanks
to the inept governance by YSR the State had been lowered to the status of Bihar. CPM district secretary Kumar Reddy said the Grand Alliance
would make a clean sweep in Chittoor district. CPI district secretary Harinath
Reddy said all necessary arrangements had been made for the meeting. He said that the chief minister, smelling defeat of the Congress, was provoking regional differences. TDP Lok Sabha nominee V Rama Rao, district leaders J Srinivasulu and others were present.
Source: www.expressbuzz.com
YSR has lost his cool following intelligence reports: Pawan
Pavan Kalyan
Tirupati, April 18: Taking advantage of Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy’s comments on the Telangana issue to the hilt, Yuva Rajyam chief and filmstar Pawan Kalyan predicted the downslide of the Congress in the State.
Addressing a series of roadside meetings during his poll campaign in Tirupati on behalf of his brother Chiranjeevi, who is contesting the Tirupati Assembly seat, Pawan Kalyan said Rajasekhara Reddy, who was always dignified and smiling, seemed to have lost his cool following intelligence reports that pointed out the poor performance of the Congress in the first phase of elections in the State.
“Perhaps for that reason only he is racking up the Telangana State issue and its effects on the rest of the State, to garner the support of people here. But, dividing people in the name of region for the sake of votes is not right,’’ he said.
Pawan Kalyan, in his customary style, took an aggressive stance against Tirupati Congress nominee B Karunakar Reddy who was accused of indulging in intimidating voters and adopting fear tactics to stop them from supporting his rival parties.
“We may not be factionists, we many not carry weapons or money, but our hearts are filled with love and courage. I will not hesitate to take to the streets and counter the intimidation and fear psychosis being spread by the Congress,’’ he asserted.
Stating that `goondaism’ and faction violence would not fetch votes, Pawan Kalyan said people were eager to see Chiranjeevi, who entered politics with the sole intention of bringing change, become the chief minister.
At several whistlestops along the way, he reiterated his allegations that Karunakar Reddy was using money and muscle power to woo voters. “It will not work. I am there to protect voters against any such fear tactics. People of Tirupati, who are children of Lord Venkateswara, will teach a lesson to the person who looted Lord Srinivas himself to amass wealth. Congress’ hand is not Abhyahastam, but is the one which has cheated Abhayahastam of the Lord of Seven Hills,’’ he said.
Pawan Kalyan said he believed in `Dharmo Rakshati Rakshitaha’ and that `dharma’ was with Chiranjeevi who was determined to bring in change.
He said allocation of 104 seats to BCs was testimony to the fact that Chiranjeevi was fulfilling the promises he had made.
Source: www.siasat.com
Tirupati may give Chiru anxious moments
Chiranjeevi
TIRUPATI: Prajarajyam president Chiranjeevi may have to more than pray if he wants to win from the Tirupati assembly constituency as
in-fighting, possible desertion by a key community and shrewd tactics by his Congress opponent K Karunakar Reddy are making him to sweat it out in this temple town.
According to sources, chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy has instructed close aide Karunakar Reddy to leave no stone unturned to ensure the defeat of the PRP president. “As a first step, Karunakar Reddy has neutralised the TDP candidate K Sanakar Reddy in order to make it a straight fight between him and Chiru. The result is that Sankar has virtually given up campaigning,” a local leader said.
A former chairman of TTD, Karunakar Reddy has been assiduously building a base in Tirupati over the last four years and with the backing of CM, can make it a close contest, a local leader said. A major campaign point of Karunakar is that he is harping on the local candidate factor, something which Chiranjeevi cannot claim.
Another factor going against Chiranjeevi is the possible desertion by the Balija community. A forward caste, the Balijas comprise about 40,000 of the 2.34 lakh electorate here. They were initially with Chiranjeevi and helped in organising the first public meeting in this temple town on August 26 last year.
However, they seem to have been weaned away by Karunakar Reddy. This was made clear when state Balija welfare community chief Anna Ramachandraiah recentlyexpressed his support for Karunakar Reddy. “Anna has thousands of staunch followers among all the BC communities in Tirupati and this could come in handy for Karunakar,” a source said. “Apart from ensuring the Balijas are in his pocket, the Congress leader is also banking heavily on the 35,000-strong Reddy and 30,000 Brahmin votes,” an observer said.
If this were not enough, the PRP is beset with internal squabbles. According to sources, former Tirupati MLA Chadalavada Krishnamurthy and his brother-in-law N V Prasad are working at cross purposes. While Chadalavada joined PRP recently, Prasad, film producer and ex-Tuda chairman, has been with the party since inception and was the chief organiser for the launch meeting of the party.
“Instead of helping the party supremo, both these leaders are more busy in hatching plans to grab the seat once Chiranjeevi vacates it as he would like to retain Palakollu,” a party insider said. Sources said because of these two leaders, the TDP (both were in the yellow party then) suffered a big defeat in the 2004 Assembly elections when Congress leader M Venkataramana emerged victorious with a margin of over 40,000 votes.
“We are worried that the feud between the brothers-in-law is going to prove costly for our leader. In fact, many party workers are in a dilemma,” a local PRP leader said.
It is because Chiranjeevi is not sure of his victory from Tirupati that he is also contesting from Palakollu in West Godavari. However, as of yet, he has not given up the fight. In the last three days, he has roped in his brother Nagababu’s wife Padmaja, his sister Madhavi Latha and brother-in-law Raju to campaign for him. Chiru is set to visit again on the final day of campaigning. But will Lord Venkateshwara answer his prayers is not a certainty anymore.
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Rahul Gandhi, YSR pray at Tirupati temple
Rahul Gandhi
Hyderabad (IANS): Congress party general secretary Rahul Gandhi and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy prayed separately at the famous Lord Venkateshwara temple in Tirupati.
Mr. Gandhi, one of the key campaigners for the Congress party, made an unscheduled visit to the temple located on Tirumala Hills around midnight.
The young MP from Amethi reached the temple town Thursday night after addressing a series of election meetings in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions.
Officials of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), which manages the affairs of India’s richest temple, said Mr. Gandhi spent 20 minutes during his first visit to the shrine.
The Congress leader had a night halt in the temple town and left for campaigning Friday morning.
YSR, as the chief minister is popularly known, also prayed at the temple after seeing off Mr. Gandhi. He later resumed campaigning in Rayalaseema.
Source: www.hindu.com
Galla goes for 3-step strategy
TIRUPATI: With polling day fast approaching, political parties are intensifying their campaigns in a variety of ways.
Perhaps the most striking is that of Galla Aruna, Minister for Medical Educat i o n and Health Insurance and Congress nominee for Chandragiri constituency.
Her campaign manager and son Jayadev Galla has devised some programmes to educate a select group of youths about various initiatives of the Congress government over the last five years, promises made for the next five years and his mother’s vision for the constituency.
As many as 2,500 youth activists of the party have been selected and are being trained under the programme in a phased manner. They will then campaign for Galla Aruna, fanning out in teams over various parts of the constituency, thus saving time and covering a larger number of people than would otherwise have been possible.
Jayadev Galla said the selected youngsters will be divided into teams and sent to different parts of the constituency.
Word of mouth publicity is the best way to get results, he said.
“Before sending them out to campaign, we will educate them thoroughly on various development and welfare schemes of the government during the last five years and also on the constituency’s development with the help of PowerPoint presentations,’’ he added.
According to him, three groups will visit a village.
The first will go around the streets raising pro-Congress slogans, accompanying them, the second will distribute the pamphlets and explain the welfare schemes introduced by the government. Finally, the third group, comprising leaders, will interact with the people.
Source: www.expressbuzz.com