Naidu, Modi Film stars on TDP poll show

Hyderabad: After striking a pre-poll alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Telugu Desam leadership is planning grand events in the run up to the polls to showcase the party's political and star power.

If the TD campaign strategists have their way, the electorate in both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh will have a treat in store with political bigwigs like Narendra Modi and N. Chandrababu Naidu sharing common a platform with tinsel town heroes like Pawan Kalyan, Balakrishna and Jr NTR.

All the star speakers will appeal to voters to support the TD-BJP combine which, they say, alone can bring political and economic stability in the two new states. Party sources said efforts were on to organise two public meetings each in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

National campaign managers of Mr Modi have informed TD leaders that he would be preoccupied with public meetings in different states till April 18. 'The T meetings will be after April 20,' sources said.

Superstar Pawan Kalyan has openly supported Mr Modi and through select media interviews, has appealed to people to vote for Mr Chandrababu Naidu.

'It is not yet clear if Pawan will share a dais. But we are trying to convince him that the joint appearance on a common platform would make more impact than interviews,' a senior TD leader pointed out.

The TD leaders were also confident that Jr NTR would return to the party fold as Mr Naidu has patched up with the actor's father and Mr Naidu's brother-in-law, Mr Harikrishna.

Maintaining that Jr NTR had also been affected after distancing himself from TD and the Nandamuri family, the TD leaders said his recent films had failed to register high openings because the Balakrishna fan base and TD cadre were boycotting his movies.

There are also rumours that actor Mahesh Babu might be roped in to campaign in the Guntur Lok Sabha segment where his brother-in-law and industrialist Mr Galla Jayadev is contesting on a TD ticket. 'One public meeting could be held in Guntur if Mahesh Babu agrees to participate,' sources said.

Telugu Desam president N. Chandrababu Naidu is all set to hit the road with a mix of traditional and hi-tech 3-D hologram technology to campaign for his party from the Malkajgiri Lok Sabha constituency from April 12.

Keeping hopes alive in Telangana, Mr Naidu's next stop is Chevella on April 13 and plans to visit other constituencies after the first leg of the tour.

The TD supremo is planning a mix of traditional and hi-tech campaign techniques in both Telangana and Seemandhra.

Mr Naidu is hiring Modi's truck mounted mega screen 3-D hologram technology to reach out to the voters in multiple places at one go to save time and energy. But the technology can be used only during nights.

When Mr Naidu addresses a meeting at night in one place, mobile hologram trucks with mounted giant screens parked in 20 to 25 public places in different constituencies would beam the speech giving a live effect. This technique was used by Modi in the last elections.

'Yes, we are planning to use the new hologram technology to reach out to a large number of people. We will have 20 to 25 screens in different places. It can be used for both satellite live telecast or recorded,' Telugu Desam RS member Sujana Choudhry told this newspaper.

Meanwhile, Mr Naidu flagged off a bus yatra launched by a group of industrialists at his Jubilee Hills residence.

Speaking on the occasion, the TD chief expressed anguish that the new state of AP may not be able to pay salaries to its employees.

Asking Seemandhra people not to worry about bifurcation, he promised to transform the region into a Singapore with new industries, IT corridor and other projects. He also claimed that the NDA would bag at least 300 Lok Sabha seats.

Quoting actor Pawan Kalyan's comments that Seemandhra youth are angry, pained and frustrated at the 'illogical bifurcation' of the state and they could turn into terrorists,' Mr Naidu said he too felt the same and decided to channelise their energies for development and the reconstruction of Andhra Pradesh.

'I gave deep thought to the issue. I went around the state and assured the youth that I would stand by them and see that their anger is diverted to development,' he added.