Praja Rajyam

It quickly became clear that the Yuva Gar-jana, the Telugu Desam’s public meeting near here on Wednesday, was intended to polarise castes in the caste-sensitive coastal region. The TD’s support has eroded especially among the Kapus after the advent of Chiranjeevi’s Praja Rajyam. The TD is now attempting to bring other castes together under the leadership of Kammas, a dominant caste in the TD. The response to Wednesday’s meeting and unity among Kamma leaders in Krishna and Guntur districts said it all. “We are working with the aim that we should not lose our vote base at any cost,” said a senior TD leader. The TD is also worried about the exodus of mino-rities towards the Congress. On Wednesday, the party invited Ms Shamshad Begum, the mother of Ayesha Meera who was raped and murdered at Vijayawada last year, to speak at the meeting. In a bid to clear doubts about the caste domination in the TD, Balakrishna, the main attraction at the Yuva Garjana, said he would be a “Brahmin, Vysya, Kshatriya, Reddy, Kamma, Kapu, BC and minority” for the people. He said that he was for the party president, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu, to become the Chief Minister if the TD won the election. DC