APNGOs heroes or zeroes?

With nobody to take the lead Samaikyandhra activists are a demoralised lot on the verge of the tipping point

They came out of absolutely nowhere to boost the sunken morale of the Seemandhra people, but their recent indifference has had a demoralising effect on the activists of Samaikyandhra. Coming out of nowhere the leaders of the A.P. NGOs Association spearheaded the agitation against the proposal of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) to bifurcate the State.

Never in the history of the State and maybe even the country did the State-owned buses stay off the road for 66 days.

Employees of every department, including the Treasury and the Power Distribution Companies, participated in the strike. Life in the Seemandhra region literally came to a grind halt on several occasions during the unprecedented agitation.

There was no opposition whatsoever when the APNGO Association led by P. Ashok Babu called off the stir saying that they would resume if there was any real danger of the State being bifurcated.

In the eyes of the people the NGOs who sacrificed their salaries for over two months were heroes and the political leaders, particularly the elected representatives, were zeros.

The agitation in Seemandhra region in no way retarded the speed with which the Central leadership of the Congress party pushed for the bifurcation.

While this was a source of agitation to the Seemandhra people the NGO leaders remained indifferent.

Meanwhile the organisational elections of the AP NGO Association changed the focus of the leaders who spoke more about the problems of the employees demanding interim relief and health benefits.

In a half hearted effort the NGOs announced bandh a day before the association elections.

The Samaikyandhra political JAC has come down heavily on the NGOs saying that it failed to get even one elected representative to resign.

All-party meet

The NGO leaders also conducted an all-party meeting, but failed to bring all the political parties to see eye to eye.

With nobody to take the lead activists of Samaikyandhra are a demoralised lot on the verge of the tipping point. Just a small shove is all that is required to send them sprawling say political pundits.