Chandras meet eclipses India-SA match frenzy

Hundreds of non-resident Telugus in the national capital and adjoining States glued to television to watch the much-publicised meeting of Chief Ministers of two Telugu-speaking States

New Delhi: Non-Resident Telugus in the national capital and the nearby States of Haryana, UP and Uttarakhand were glued to television on Sunday evening as never before to watch the meeting of AP Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu with his Telangana counterpart K Chandrashekar Rao.

The much-publicised event - the personal invitation of Naidu to Chandrashekar Rao and his family members - saw Telugus rushing back to their homes by 6 pm and the reportage of the meeting in all Telugu channels becoming the primetime show, taking precedence over the India-SA cricket match.

Reports from nearby Gurgaon and Faridabad in Haryana, Ghaziabad, Indirapuram and Noida in Uttar Pradesh and even far away Dehradun in Uttarakhand where a sizeable section of Telugus working in various Central government departments and undertakings reside, also suggest the interest the meeting aroused in them.

The hubs of Telugu activity in the capital, the AP/TS Bhavans too reflected the mood with the guests getting confined to the rooms throughout the evening lapping up every word and letter uttered by the anchors and reports of the electronic media. Reports from abroad, particularly the US, were no different.

Vinay Reddy of New Jersey, hailing from Warangal, Skyping said, “This is perhaps the most watched event by the Telugus after the Modi show.” It may be recalled that the bitterness and acrimony that marked the equation between the two CMs saw each other complaining to the Governor, the Centre and law enforcing agencies in the past over several issues.

The ‘note-for-vote’ scam involving Telangana TDP leader, Revanth Reddy, further deteriorated with authorities filing cases against the CMs too. It is in this backdrop that Sunday’s meeting assumed importance.