The ‘Chai Pe Charcha’ with BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi evoked a good response on Wednesday, but the absence of the facility to pose questions to him disappointed people.
There were decent crowds at six tea stalls in the city where the programme was beamed live through satellite, but Mr. Modi took questions from major cities among which Vijayawada did not figure.
It was an unpleasant surprise to be left out of the interactive session in that way.
The young volunteers of Citizens for Accountable Governance (CAG), which is the organiser of the nationwide programme, were also not a happy lot.
The motley crowd that gathered at Durga tea stall opposite Siddartha Arts College at Mogalrajapuram watched Mr. Modi make a brief speech and field questions from across the country, but were not too enthusiastic as they did not have the opportunity to talk to him. A quick word with Mr. Modi was what they wanted, but unfortunately that did not fructify for them.
K. Chandrasekhar, a degree student, from the nearby LIC Colony reached the venue with his friends to see what Mr. Modi’s message would be and wanted to ask what his opinion was about the importance and ways of developing skills among the youth.
V. Gopala Rao, employee of a private company, said he came to see what Mr. Modi would say about good governance, which was the theme of the programme and his model of economic development and thought of asking what best suited Andhra Pradesh.
Setting apart the disappointment of people, Durga tea stall owner Raju said the making of derogatory remarks against tea-sellers was unfortunate as there was no rule that a person who sells tea for a living should not rise to exalted positions in any field.
Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha State general secretary Chikkala Rajanikanth and CAG coordinator Veeramachaneni Chaitanya were present.