The Hindu : Front Page : Chiru witnesses a ‘different Sircilla’ this time around

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Oct 31, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Front Page

Front Page

Chiru witnesses a ‘different Sircilla’ this time around

K.M. Dayashankar & Suresh Krishnamoorthy

Low turnout for Praja Rajyam chief’s second visit; releases party’s Sircilla declaration

Chiru to reveal stand on Telangana before end of tour
Crowds seen at Vemulawada, Korutla and Metpalli

MATTER OF FAITH: Praja Rajyam president Chiranjeevi offers prayers at Sri Vemulawada Rajeshwara Swamy devasthanams by garlanding an ox as part of ‘kode mokku’ on Thursday.

SIRCILLA (KARIMNAGAR DT): Praja Rajyam president Chiranjeevi’s ‘Praja Ankita Yatra’ in the Telangana region started off on a dull note due to a poor turnout, but the response improved as his motorcade rolled on to other places in the district on Thursday.

Belying the party leaders’ expectations, there was lukewarm response in Sircilla in contrast to the huge public turnout during Chiranjeevi’s earlier visit on September 20 to console the bereaved families of powerloom weavers. This initially dampened the enthusiasm of the party leaders who had created a hype about Chiranjeevi’s four-day tour of Karimnagar district.

While he was originally scheduled to reach here at 8.30 a.m., calls from party managers about the lack of crowds near Gandhi Chowk made the PR president slow his convoy from Hyderabad, 140 km away. Local leaders pulled out all stops in arranging vehicles to ferry people to the busy junction. All this led to a delay of about three hours though it helped in a much better attendance at the Old Bus Stand as well as two meetings at Vemulawada and those at Korutla and Metpalli. The low turnout was attributed to the failure of the aspirants for the party ticket from Sircilla Assembly to mobilise people as Chiranjeevi had announced that he would field a member of the Backward Classes community from this segment.

The PR leader declared that he would declare his party’s stand on Telangana before completion of his eight-day tour of the region. He gave this assurance on being greeted with the slogans of ‘Jai Telangana’ by people, including cadres of Telangana Rashtra Samiti, who wanted him to reveal his party’s stand on separate statehood.

Chiranjeevi sought to strike an emotional chord with the people by saying he fixed the second leg of his tour in this area only to show how much he cared for the people in this backward region.

Releasing the party’s Sircilla declaration, he said that the PR after being elected to power would distribute Re. 1 extra on each metre of cloth produced on the powerloom, arrange for waiver of loans availed by the weavers and distribution of yarn and procurement of the accumulated stocks.

Weavers were, however, shocked when Chiranjeevi said that if elected to power, he would ensure seven to eight hours of free power supply to the powerlooms as the industry requires 24-hour power supply.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page