Thousands of Telugu Desam party leaders and workers from across the State gathered on a 750-square-yard site along the National Highway 5 at Aganampudi to welcome their party chief N. Chandrababu Naidu on the final stretch of his 208-day padayatra.
Last stretch
Though Chandrababu Naidu was scheduled to address a public meeting at the AU Engineering College Grounds a good 20 km. away, the leaders vied to greet him on his last one km. walk from Shivaji Nagar.
The former Chief Minister was accompanied by his wife Bhuvaneswari, son Lokesh and brother-in-law Nandamuri Balakrishna, apart from local party leaders and other volunteers.
After unveiling the statue of party founder N.T. Rama Rao at the site, where the party erected huge pylons to mark the event, Mr. Naidu climbed atop an open-top vehicle for a drive to the public meeting venue. Party workers released yellow balloons to mark the occasion. A virtual stampede ensued on the site with all the people trying to reach out to their leader. A Telugu Desam leader from Anantapur district, T. Vasantha Naidu, presented silver footwear weighing 2 kg. to Naidu to mark his feat.
Disruption of traffic
A rally of motorcycles, three-wheelers and four-wheelers that accompanied Naidu slowly wound its way on the National Highway causing disruption to vehicular traffic on the stretch.
A festive atmosphere prevailed all through with cultural troupes from various districts performing on moving vehicles. The police had a very tough time controlling the enthusiastic party workers and people who were blocking Naidu’s entourage. The TDP president, who arrived at the pylon at 3:30 p.m., would reach the meeting venue well after 7 p.m.
