Pragathi Nivedana Sabha was touted by the TRS as the 'mother of all public meetings' with the party expecting 25 lakh attendees.
The Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) on Sunday held a rally on the outskirts of Hyderabad city, at a place called Kongara Kalan, where the party claimed that 25 lakh people had gathered to listen to Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao.
The public meeting, Pragathi Nivedana Sabha, was touted by the party as the 'mother of all public meetings' with KCR's son and state minister KT Rama Rao claiming that it would be the biggest ever rally held in India.
"The turnout in this rally is going to be something that people will remember for a long time, it is going to be the biggest political rally ever held in India," Rao, Telangana's IT and Municipal Administration Minister, said before the rally.
The party had expected that 25 lakh people would attend the meet from all over Telangana.
"TRS has nearly 46 lakh registered members and even half of them turn up the number would easily reach 25 lakhs," KTR said, adding that the number might even cross the estimation.
The preparations for the rally were also at the grand level. Of the 15000 odd state-owned buses from Telangana State Road Transport Corporation, nearly 7,000 buses were hired by the TRS to ferry people to the venue and back. Each top functionary was given a specific task for this meeting weeks in advance.
A lot of buzz and hype was created around this public meeting which was supposed to start at 4.00 pm.
However, at the stroke of four when a top minister enquired about the number of people on the ground, a senior party functionary, in a feeble voice, said, "Anna (brother) just about four lakhs."
Shocked at this reply, the minister asked him to bring all people in the front.
Chief Minister KCR, who kept everyone guessing whether or not he would announce the dissolution of the Telangana Assembly, arrived in a private chopper around 6 pm. Even the visual of him seeing the meeting venue from his helicopter window while touching down was an indication that the number of people on the ground was hardly anywhere near his own expectations.
More than people, it was the large media contingent which was eagerly waiting for a quote or that sound byte which would have made the wait worthwhile. Pouring cold water or rather in an anti-climax, KCR said, "Everyone is thinking I will say something about elections but I want to tell you I will take appropriate decision at an appropriate time."
If not that announcement then why was this Pragathi Nivedana Sabha called?
"it's not clear even to us as to why KCR called this sabha," opined one of the TRS party members who came from Nalgonda district.
In his 50 minutes speech, KCR said nothing of substance. The tone and tenor for which KCR is known otherwise was also missing from his speech.
TRS' arch-rival - the Congress party - which is looking for an opportunity to unseat the ruling party, used this occasion to rub salt.
"Its a flop show by KCR and TRS. Forget the numbers, look at his speech which was supposed to be a progress card. It was lacklustre and he didn't give any correct picture of even what he claims to be doing which he's not," said Telangana Congress president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy.
Till 2014, the TRS rode on an emotional card of separate Telangana. KCR and his party were bestowed upon power as a reward by the people of Telangana the fruits of which they are enjoying till now. But here after, especially after this public meeting, KCR and TRS have to do some deep soul searching.
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 "Kongara Kalan:")
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