Southern States - Andhra Pradesh   

Naidu exhorts cadre to reach out to people

By Our Special Correspondent

A technician of a TV channel fixes a lapel microphone to the TDP president and Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu, before a live telecast of the address by him to his party cadre, in Hyderabad on Monday .- Photo: P. V. Sivakumar

HYDERABAD Aug. 11. In what is seen as another effort to get his party into top gear for the next elections, the TDP president, N. Chandrababu Naidu, interacted with the party cadre today in a phone-in programme telecast live by a private TV channel.

He gave a clarion call to party workers to reach out to the masses, prioritise their problems and bring them to the Government's notice for a solution. Stating that the party's future depended upon its 99,000-strong polling booth and gram panchayat-level party committees, he asserted that the TDP would continue in power after the Assembly elections and the Congress would remain in the Opposition.

This first-ever `dial your party president' show held at the NTR Bhavan turned out to be rather drab affair with the TDP president delivering an hour-long introductory speech against 30 minutes allotted to him ignoring placards held aloft by floor managers asking him to conclude. As other signals for a `break' went unheeded, a party functionary, P. N. V. Prasad, thrust a note at Mr. Naidu even as the cameras were rolling.

This left only half-an-hour for questions from party functionaries assembled in thousands of villages across the State prior to the show. Once the caller identified himself and gave the name of his village, a computer flashed the names of all members of the local committee on a large screen. This enabled Mr. Naidu to take a roll call of the functionaries present.

The Q&A session turned comical at times with some workers using the opportunity to praise their local MLA or Minister and then Mr. Naidu himself.

A case in point was Venkataramana of Kamalapur in Karimnagar district who praised Mr. Naidu as well as the district Minister, M. Damodar Reddy, for `working day and night,'' lauded the Government for successful completion of the Godavari Pushkarams and described Janmabhoomi as a boon to people. When the TDP chief took a roll call, it turned out that Ramana's wife, son as well as daughter held some party post or other.

Many questions were mundane like the one asking why the new railway station for MMTS was named after `HI-TEC City'' and not after Kukatpally Housing Board. But, a partyman from Chittoor expressed dissatisfaction at the party's inability to effectively rebut criticism by the CLP leader, Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy.

Once this session concluded, Mr. Naidu made a prolonged speech which he ended 15 minutes beyond the stipulated deadline after some more frantic signalling by floor managers. Asked about the commercial terms of the show, he said the party was still negotiating the price with Teja TV.

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