Chiru draws big crowds in YSR’s bastion
Youth, women cheer Praja Rajyam president in Pulivendula
REACHING OUT: Praja Rajyam president Chiranjeevi throws garlands at the cheering crowds in Pulivendula on Wednesday.
PULIVENDULA:
Notwithstanding the prevailing tension in the wake of violence here on Tuesday night, Praja Rajyam president Chiranjeevi drew huge crowds, comprising mainly youth and women, for his road show in this Assembly constituency represented by Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy.
Flag-waving youth showering flower petals on Mr. Chiranjeevi lustily cheered him all through his address, overshadowing the protest of the Congressmen, who waved a couple of black flags from atop a building at Poola Angallu circle, and earlier near the Sri Venkateswara temple.
Mr. Chiranjeevi twirled his moustache and struck his thigh on the crowd’s request near the bus stand, to re-enact a scene from his popular film ‘Indra’. He arrived in this town almost five hours behind schedule as the tyre of his vehicle got punctured as also due to his last minute decision to change the route because Congressmen planned to obstruct his convoy near Balapanur, the native village of the Chief Minister.
Mr. Chiranjeevi surprised his detractors in the Congress by showering praise on the Chief Minister for the development of Pulivendula. Promising to develop the entire State on the lines of Pulivendula if he gained power, he said with a tinge of sarcasm that the greenery all around, good roads, high-rise buildings and the development of the town, was inspiring. He made an indirect reference to the manner in which Praja Rajyam leaders were chased away on Tuesday when he said the State should have special economic zones (SEZs) and not ‘special political zones’ reserved for the entry of only some leaders.
‘Passport and visa’
Pulivendula was on the Telugu soil and should not have borders which some could not cross, he said. “Why the tension and mental stress to go to Pulivendula? The people’s love was his passport and their affection his ‘visa’, he stated. Referring to his native village Mogalthur, he said his father, a constable, moved out on transfers when he was just a one-year-old boy. “I neither have relatives nor own properties or even a cent of land there.”
PR activists stage dharnas across State
Mark of protest against Pulivendula attack on party leaders
Up in arms: Praja Rajyam activists protesting against the Pulivendula incident in Hyderabad on Wednesday.
HYDERABAD:
Praja Rajyam party followers on Wednesday staged dharnas at several places across the State, protesting against the Pulivendula attack on their leaders, allegedly by Congressmen, on Tuesday night.
In the State capital, party cadres ‘walked on their knees’ for some time near Nampally area to depict ‘a stunted democracy’ . In Secunderabad, they washed Mahatma Gandhi’s statue with milk, symbolic of cleansing the insult to democracy.
At a protest meet near Indira Park, party spokesperson P. Mitra denounced the Pulivendula attack saying there was no place for such violence in a progressive democracy.
Earlier, a delegation of PR leaders led by general secretary Allu Arvind submitted a memorandum to the State Human Rights Commission Chairman Justice B. Subhashan Reddy.
Past incident
In a press release, former Union Minister P. Upendra, who recently announced plans to join the PR party, said people had not forgotten the episode when chappals were thrown at then Chief Minister K. Vijayabhaskara Reddy in the presence of the Prime Minister at the instance of Dr. Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy.
Meanwhile, the Lok Satta Party condemned the alleged ‘vandalism’ by Congress workers. It appealed to all political parties, to try and win people’s hearts.
PR delegation for New Delhi
HYDERABAD:
A high-level delegation of Praja Rajyam leaders including general secretary Allu Aravind is bound for New Delhi to meet Chief Election Commissioner N. Gopalaswamy to draw its attention to the attack on its leaders by Congressmen in Pulivendula on Tuesday night. The delegation, which would comprise P. Shivshankar and party spokesman P. Mitra is to showcase the degenerating law and order situation in the State, with specific reference to Tuesday’s attack on party leaders in the Chief Minister’s constituency.
Woman runs over by PR activists’ vehicle
The woman was crossing the road when she was mowed down
Another accident victim, Adinaryana, buried at Kalasamudram
ANANTAPUR:
A woman was allegedly run-over by a vehicle carrying Praja Rajyam activists on NH-7 between Gooty and Miduthuru in the district on Tuesday. She died on the spot. The incident occurred when Chiranjeevi’s road show was in progress at Thondapadu village between Gooty and Tadipatri.
The woman was identified as one Dawli, 44, of Bikari thanda in Kusumanchi mandal in Khammam district. Brother of the deceased woman, Sadhu, told the highway patrolling police, who reached there few minutes after the mishap, that they were travelling in a lorry when the driver stopped the vehicle for a tea, it was then that Dawli got down and was crossing the road to attend nature’s call that a Tata Sumo, bearing No. AP-21-G1702 knocked her downThe vehicle driver turned his vehicle back and sped away apparently with the fear that he might be caught by the police. The vehicle was speeding towards Gooty but after the accident the driver preferred returning to Anantapur.
PRP leaders resort to Gandhigiri
They take out rally protesting against attack on party workers at Pulivendula
Saying it with flowers: Praja Rajyam Party leaders and workers distributing flowers to people at Sankar Vilas Centre in Guntur on Wednesday.
GUNTUR:
Praja Rajyam Party on Wednesday resorted to Gandhigiri by offering roses to men and women at the Sankar Vilas Centre here as a gesture of protest against the alleged attack on their party workers in Pulivendula on Tuesday.
The party key leaders and workers took out a massive rally from their Arundelpet district office and blockedtraffic at the Sankar Vilas Centre for about half an hour raising slogans and displaying placards protesting the attack.
PRP leader Yelamanchili Sivaji said Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy must ensure there was no violence in the democratic political set up at least in his own constituency, while leaders of other parties carried out campaign in the coming elections. Everyone in the democratic country had the right to express his or her political view freely, he pointed out.
After World War-II more than 100 countries adopted their own constituencies and types of Governments with violence dominating during transfer of power from Italy to Egypt, but transfer of power had been bloodless in India during the past 62 years, which `unfortunately’ was not the scenario today, Dr. Sivaji said.
Washing the statue of Mahatma Gandhi at the Lalapet near GMC office symbolically, he said Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and some of the northern states had got used to bloodshed during the elections, but rest of the country was still peaceful, which should be maintianed.
PR plea on voter enrolment
NIZAMABAD:
Praja Rajyam (PR) leaders on Wednesday urged Joint Collector Neetu Prasad to step up measures to enrol all eligible people particularly those who crossed 18 years of age afresh in the voter lists. In a memorandum, PR leader Lingam Nayakwadi said at least 20 per cent of eligible people were omitted from the voter lists in the town and urged the Joint Collector to cover them by sending enumerators. The responsibility of enrolling all eligible voters rests on the district administration, he said.
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