The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Praja Rajyam on a post-mortem session

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Thursday, Aug 28, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Praja Rajyam on a post-mortem session

Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD: Having learnt some bitter lessons in crowd management at the Tirupati rally, leaders of Chiranjeevi’s Praja Rajyam party have decided to avoid these mistakes when the film star begins his road shows.

A post-mortem of the Tirupati meeting that was attended by lakhs of people will be conducted at the party’s office in Jubilee Hills here on Thursday when security and other crowd management issues will be discussed threadbare.

While the massive gathering did help the actor drive home the point that he enjoyed mass appeal, security arrangements were grossly inadequate. Nearly 100 persons sustained injuries in the repeated lathicharge by the police and stampede sending the large media contingent scurrying for safety.

Initially, the organisers thought that the 3,000-strong volunteers force would be able to manage the crowd but it utterly failed in controlling the surging fans, many of them in a state of frenzy. However, a pro-active police stepped in with an iron hand and averted a tragedy. VIPs could leave the venue with great difficulty after conclusion of the meeting. No one else was allowed to take the dais and none were too visible as the meeting began.

The mega public meeting over, it’s time for business for Praja Rajyam party managers. A spate of meetings are in store for members of the core committee, starting with the de-briefing on Thursday. The core committee includes Mr. Chiranjeevi’s brother-in-law Allu Aravind, brother K. Nagendra Babu, spokesperson Mitra and key aide Vinay, former IPS officer C. Anjaneya Reddy, television presenter Parakala Prabhakar and DoIT volunteer Adapa Raja Suresh Kumar.

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