Sea of Red
For once, the colour red dominated the sea at Ramakrishna Beach road as thousands of CPM workers gathered for the public meeting marking the conclusion of the 21st party congress in Visakhapatnam. The CPM workers took out a huge rally from the RTC Complex to the Ramakrishna Beach holding red flags and sporting red ribbons on their heads. Men wore red shirts and women red sarees.
Carnival at beach
The beach road which is crowded on Sunday evenings, was turned into a no-vehicle zone as CPM workers along with general public turned up in huge numbers. The serene surroundings at the beach road gave way to a festive atmosphere with the rhythmic beat of drums. Public who turned up for a casual Sunday evening, were delighted by the dappu, prompting some to break into moves.
Yechury the Cynosure
True to his reputation as the man of contemporary times, the newly elected general secretary of CPM Sitaram Yechury was game for selfies, patiently posing with young party activists. The excited youngsters were elated at the once-in-a-lifetime moment with the veteran. “We always saw him on the television or addressing public meetings. But we could never got so close to him. His elevation as the party general secretary makes the selfie more memorable,” said Kranthi Madhav, a youngster from Vijayawada. Outgoing general secretary Prakash Karat was no less too, as he was all smiles while posing for the photographs with party members.
Cheers all the way
People broke into cheers when Yechury was invited to address the gathering. Despite being a Telugu man, he took pains to speak in his mother tongue. However, that only seemed to amuse the crowds, who kept cheering for him.
One with the Thunder
But it was CPM Andhra Pradesh unit secretary P Madhu who turned out to be the show-stealer as he broke into the local lingo, inviting a rousing applause from the people. The crowds could not help but clap whenever he attacked Telugu Desam Party supremo and Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu for his anti-people policies. However, his colleagues from Telangana appeared rather embarrassed when Madhu lauded Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao for his initiatives as he conitued to attack the TDP government in Andhra Pradesh.