The Hindu : Stage set for Telugu Desam's `Vijayabheri'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Feb 22, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Stage set for Telugu Desam's `Vijayabheri'

By N. Rahul

HYDERABAD, FEB. 21. The stage is set for the much publicised Vijayabheri rally of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) on Sunday which by all accounts is expected to be a record breaking event in terms of crowd turnout in the State capital.

The influx of the enthusiastic party supporters had already started towards the evening on Saturday and with it the traffic snarls at important junctions. The city is expected to be bursting at its seams by afternoon when the procession to the venue of the meeting, Parade grounds, commences from three points at Nizam College and the adjacent Lal Bahadur stadium.

The TDP president and Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu, will offer tributes to the founder party president, NTR, at NTR ghat on the Necklace road and lead the rally from the Ambedkar statue at Tank Bund.

It was yellow all over the city as it was decked up with TDP flags, banners, festoons and buntings. Huge cut-outs of Mr. Naidu and welcome arches adorned important junctions. Amusing open-top yellow jeeps of leaders with the picture of Mr. Naidu also attracted passers by on roads.

At the Parade grounds, the finishing touches to the two dais and other arrangements were going on at a feverish pace under floodlights. While one dais was meant for cultural artistes, the other one, which is bigger, would be used by Mr. Naidu and the listed speakers.

The two huge cranes which would be the star attraction as they rotated huge bicycles in the air were already in place. Twenty feet high bicycles would be hung to the pulleys of the crane and beneath them would be 294 smaller bicycles, representing 294 Assembly segments in the State. A laser beam would be given to the flourescent large bicycles as they hang in the air.

By a three dimensional effect, it would appear that the bigger bicycles came close to the eyes of the people in the crowd. The bicycles would come to rest on the super structure supporting the main dais at the rear after the show. The structure would display the development of the State under the TDP rule.

Another star attraction at the meeting would be the drummers show.

On arrival at the venue, Mr. Naidu would bang a large drum on the main dais and this would be followed by the striking of a large number of drums on the other dais by the party volunteers. The sound would reverberate the area over the high-voltage loudspeakers.

The drum show symbolises the `march to victory' agenda of TDP as reflected in the term `Vijayabheri' while the bicycle show was aimed at reminding the voters about the symbol of the party. The shows are given the name `cycle and drum boom'.

Various TV channels were busy setting up their OB vans at the venue for the purpose of live telecast of the proceedings. Senior leaders supervised the arrangements.

All the function halls on the city outskirts were booked by the TDP for the purpose of providing refreshments. The party brought out a brochure with the list of the halls allotted district-wise and information about parking lots, medical facilities and other dos and dont's. The order in which the procession would move was also explained.

Earlier, Mr. Naidu interacted with the district units of the party for information on the likely turnout for the meeting. It was found that the crowds could number 10,000 an Assembly segment from far away places as Srikakulam and Visakhapatnam, their number could be 15,000 a segment from districts within a range of 300 km. and almost 20,000 to 25,000 a segment from nearby districts, the city TDP president, B. Pratap Reddy, said.

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