Telugu Desam Party’s Sri Potti Sri Ramulu (SPSR) Nellore district unit, which was all set to host the prestigious annual conclave ‘Mahanadu’, is in for serious disappointment with the high command’s decision to make it a hydrid meeting from Mangalagiri headquarters.

This ‘austerity measure’ was termed as in tune with the call given by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu.

Four decades wait

The leaders and cadre were initially elated as the district unit got the first ever opportunity to host the meet in the four decades of the party’s formation, but the latest decision turned out to be the proverbial ‘slip between the cup and the lip’.

Over the last fortnight, the sprawling IFFCO Kisan SEZ compound in Kovur constituency of Nellore district, chosen as the venue for hosting the three-day event, was whirring with the sound of heavy machinery and tillers meant for land filling and levelling, before the entire activity was called off.

Even the party’s State president Palla Srinivasa Rao closeted in the first-ever meeting held last week with the thirteen committees formed to look after reception, accommodation, food, transportation, public relations etc.

Ministers Ponguru Narayana and Anam Ramanarayana Reddy, Member of Parliament Vemireddy Prabhakar Reddy, his spouse and local legislator Vemireddy Prashanthi Reddy, MLAs Kotamreddy Sridhar Reddy, Kakarla Suresh, S. Chandramohan Reddy, D. Krishna Reddy, MLC and TDP district party president Beedha Ravichandra, State spokesperson Kotamreddy Giridhar Reddy and Deputy Mayor P. Roopkumar Yadav presented a picture of unity to conduct the event on a grand scale, apparently to get into the good books of the high command.

A whopping 500 acres were earmarked for the event, with 200 acres for the main convention and dining section. “Similarly, 200 acres were planned on either side of the venue to develop two parking lots of 100 acres each on the north and the south to accommodate the buses, cars and tractors”, says Mr. Giridhar Reddy.

While the first two days will have meeting of party’s State level representatives and the 266 Mahanadu committee members, the turnout on the third day was projected at five to seven lakh visitors from across the two Telugu states and hence the scale of development.

However, the party’s call came as a thunderbolt and the sapped the enthusiasm. Nellore Rural MLA Kotamreddy Sridhar Reddy said the decision, though disheartening, was taken in the right earnest.

While pacifying the cadre by promising to bring Mr. Chandrababu Naidu for a mega public meeting in Kovur, Ms. Prashanthi Reddy urged the high command to give the opportunity to Nellore district to host Mahanadu 2027.