Telugu Desam Party’s so-called novel protest -- “Motha Mogiddam” (Let us make a noise) on Saturday evening in protest against the arrest of party president N Chandrababu Naidu in the skill development case, turned out to be a virtual damp squib.
According to reports coming from different parts of Andhra Pradesh, there was not much participation from the general public in the programme, which commenced at 7 pm and ended at 7.05 pm.
As a matter of fact, the people have either forgotten or ignored the call given by the TDP leaders, particularly Naidu’s daughter-in-law Nara Brahmani, to register their protest against the witch-hunt of Naidu by the Jagan Mohan Reddy government.
Even the TDP leaders and cadre did not evince much interest in participating in the programme, as it was called only on Friday and the party leaders failed to convey the message to the cadre. There was no publicity nor was there any intense online campaign for the protest programme.
Senior TDP leaders, however, took part in the noisy protest at several places. They blew whistles, beat drums, honked horns of their vehicles, rang bells and made sounds on utensils for five minutes.
Naidu’s son and TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh along with TDP MPs participated in the programme in Delhi.
Naidu’s son-in-law Nara Brahmani along with party workers beat the drums in Rajahmundry, where Naidu is lodged in Central Jail. TDP state president K. Atchennaidu led the protest at party headquarters at Mangalagiri.
The TDP supporters in parts of Telangana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu also participated in the programme. The protesters also raised slogans condemning Naidu’s ‘illegal’ arrest.
In a way, it was noise without sound and failed to serve the purpose of the TDP. The party should have thought a more innovative programme to register their protest!