Hyderabad campaigns add a dash of humour

By M H Ahssan

Political parties in election mode in the the state and desperate to grab power are displaying a great sense of humour to show their rivals in bad light albeit hitting them below the belt. The fight is in full public display on the various Telugu channels.

Here are some samples: In a poll campaign advertisement titled “Satya Peetam”, TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu (shown only as a dark shadowy image to indicate that it’s him) is being subjected to a lie detector test. In the ad, he admits that his arch rival chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy has achieved what he never could and that Reddy is sure to win the polls again.

The TDP think tank swung into action to counter this hugely popular and comic advertisement. In the TDP ad, a similar shadowy figure appears declaring himself to be Y S Rajasekhara Reddy’s ‘aatma’. This counter-attack from the TDP is more gripping because Reddy sings a Telugu rap song with his characteristic mannerisms and admits to his sin: wholesale corruption. He also declares that if the ‘aatma’ could vote, he would certainly vote only for Chandrababu Naidu. In the end, he says: ‘Amma, Ayya, Babu Zindabad’.

In both the Congress and the TDP ads, the voices of Reddy and Naidu have been perfectly imitated, what with hordes of artistes available these days who have perfected the art.

The poll campaign has got interesting because of the other advertisements too. On the lines of the once hugely popular KBC, the Congress has come out with an ad titled ‘ R a n d i Gyanam Pondandi’ that depicts Chand r ab abu Naidu as a backstabber. The person posed a question asking him to select a backstabber from four choices zeroes on Chandrababu Naidu. Other choices includes names like Brutus and Aurangzeb.

In yet another Congress ad, titled ‘NTR Aatma Garjana’, a clipping of N T Rama Rao is shown heaping abuses on Chandrababu Naidu.

When the TDP came out with an ad titled ‘Lokam Kodai Koosthundhi’ showing a two chicks discussing how to attack the Congress, the Congress lost no time in coming up with a counter. In the Congress ad, a rishi who finds the two chicks sprinkles water on them to reveal their true identity - they turn into two foxes and the face of one of them resembles Chandrababu Naidu’s.

While humour appears to be the forte of the Congress, the TDP made use of the visuals of Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, finance minister K Rosaiah and Mahila Congress chief Ganga Bhavani, and minister J C Diwakar Reddy’s brother J C Prabhakar Reddy using abusive language. And in sharp contrast, Chandrababu Naidu is shown as someone with a heart of love showering affection on people.

While the TDP and the Congress are trying to outwit each other, the Prajarajyam Party (PRP) too has now joined the fray. But devoid of any theatrics, filmstar Chiranjeevi’s party is straight harping on ‘change’.