NDA’s 1st showdown in AP, Modi’s address get bouquets and brickbats

Conflicting Views

• NDA’s Prajagalam rally in AP sparks mixed reactions over PM Modi’s address
• Naidu and Modi’s camaraderie at the rally marks a decade-long reunion
• Pawan Kalyan likens Modi’s visit to bringing Ganga to Earth
• Vijayasai Reddy slams the meeting as a failure, citing a lack of vision for AP’s future
• Jagan and Modi govt have inseparable friendship, accuses Sharmila

Vijayawada: The much-touted Prajagalam rally by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the first after the return of the TDP and Tollywood star Pawan Kalyan's Jana Sena Party at Boppudi near Chilakaluripet in Palnadu district to the BJP-led coalition in nearly a decade has drawn bouquets and brickbats over the address made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the run up to the simultaneous elections to the Assembly and Lok Sabha in Andhra Pradesh.

Though elaborate arrangements were made to mobilise people from across the State for the show of strength by the three parties with TDP sweating out more than the two partners because of its organisational strength to make it a grand success, Modi failed to make any specific assurance on issues pending before the Centre like Amaravati development, completion of Polavaram multi-purpose irrigation project and merger of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), the corporate entity of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant with SAIL. The operationalisation of South Coast Railway (SCoR) Zone, for which the Centre has already given clearance, with headquarters in Visakhapatnam has also not found a mention.

One positive point for the NDA supporters was the camaraderie seen between TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu and Modi, who greeted each other at a political rally after a gap of a decade. Naidu snapped ties with NDA in 2018 after launching a severe attack on the BJP-led coalition for betraying the interest of AP by point-blank denial of special status.

While BJP State president Daggubati Purandeswari, Naidu and Pawan described Modi's address as the right step to safeguard the interest of the State, YSRCP and others opposed to NDA as well as the trade unions RINL came down heavily on promise made by the NDA's first joint rally on the eve of the elections. YSRCP Parliamentary Party leader V Vijayasai Reddy took to X (formerly Twitter), saying: "The TDP-JSP-BJP meeting in Andhra Pradesh was a failure and did not meet people's expectations, no talk of new promises, no talk of resolution of old promises, or talk of any vision for AP, and utter lack of understanding of people's issues. It was just a negative campaign at its core."

Naidu said in his reaction: "Judging by the enthusiasm of the people who came to the Prajagalam Sabha, it is confirmed that the victory of the NDA in the next election is certain." Pawan Kalyan remarked, "PM Modi's arrival in AP resembles how Bhagiratha brought Ganga to Earth. Modi has come here to support us and save us from undemocratic rule."

Hitting out at the claims on success of the meeting, APCC president YS Sharmila took strong exception to Modi's criticism that both the YSRCP and the Congress were on the same page as they are headed by the same family members. She said that BJP is the ringmaster who keeps Jagan and Babu (CBN) in two cages. Having played a key role in the destruction of the State for ten years, now they are attacking me and alleged that both Jagan and Modi government have 'inseparable friendship.'

RINL recognised union leader D Adinarayana regretted that despite the promise by TDP, JSP and a section of BJP leaders including Purandeswari and Rajya Sabha MP GVL Narasimha Rao did not mention anything about stopping privatisation of Vizag Steel Plant. CPI national secretary K Narayana and CPI (M) State secretary V Srinivasa Rao termed Modi's address as a big disappointment to the people of AP.