Andhra Pradesh - Nizamabad   

NRI friends to the aid of Congress candidate

By Ravi Reddy

NIZAMABAD, APRIL 17. The presence of six non-resident Indian Telugus during the election campaign of the Nizamabad Congress Lok Sabha candidate, Madhu Yaskhi, has raised curiosity among the rural people.

Mr. Yaskhi is himself an NRI who was handpicked by the AICC for the Nizamabad Lok Sabha seat. Once his ticket was confirmed, it became evident that it would not be Mr. Yaskhi alone who would jump into the hustle and bustle of the electioneering. But, no sooner did information about Mr. Yaskhi's candidature trickle into USA than his close friends and well wishers decided to do their bit.

The six NRIs who are camping in Nizamabad at present are the hotelier, Pramod Goud, of New York, the senior vice-president of the International NRI Congress cell, Babu Thomas, the owner of a beauty studio, Atluri Madhavi, the networking professional, Ravi Bagoor, another hotelier, Nandu Goud, and a former strategist with IBM, Arvind Acharya.

Apart from friends from the United States, there are a number of classmates and old acquaintances of Mr. Yaskhi, who have turned up to do their bit for him. The entire campaign of the Congress candidate is being handled by his friends and well-wishers.

A couple of NRIs who spoke to The Hindu on Saturday said that they are here to work for the success of a person who has done yeoman service to immigrant Indians in the USA. Their only wish is to see Mr. Yaskhi getting elected as an MP so that he could continue his social service.

Pramod Goud, a close friend of Mr. Yaskhi, said that the urge to serve the people has made the Congress candidate take a plunge into politics. "He wants to do a lot for the people which is evident by the way he reacted at the plight of the families of farmers who committed suicide due to mounting debts,'' he pointed out. He said, "In the USA also the immigrant Indian community looked to Mr. Yaskhi to bail them out of any problem.''

Arvind Acharya, who has been closely monitoring Mr. Yaskhi's daily routine, said the campaign in the USA is run from the control room while here it is more dynamic and flexible. Atluri Madhavi, who arrived her from Texas said Mr. Yaskhi was always concerned about people in distress. "The commitment of the Congress candidate, gives us inspiration that NRIs could also serve their motherland," she added.

Mr. Yaskhi's campaign has gone hi-tech thanks to the support extended by Mr. Ravi Bagoor. The NRI handles a state-of-the-art computer division in the Congress candidate's office here. All the relevant data needed by the party nominee during his daily election campaign is readily available. "Mr. Yaskhi, steps out of his office armed with the data to tackle any eventuality in the tour,'' said Mr. Bagoor adding that plans to use the Global Positioning System were dropped due to lack of time. Nevertheless, there is a website giving all the details about the activities of Mr. Yaskhi.

Every night all the close friends sit down and review the progress of the campaign and make every effort to overcome any hurdles encountered during the day.

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