The meeting of Telugu NRIs at Dallas Convention Centre on Saturday, addressed by YSR Congress party president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy during his maiden visit after coming to power was no doubt a big hit.
The turnout was tremendous, the food arrangements were good and Jagan’s speech was outstanding. But the organization of the entire event was very bad, according to the feedback being received from different sections of people who attended the meeting.
Apparently, it was the proverbial “too-many-cooks-spoil-the-broath” situation at the venue.
Instead of entrusting the responsibility to a single organization, there were different groups trying to control different things at a time. As a result, it was difficult to find out who was doing what.
“While prominent NRIs who had the experience of holding such events successfully in the past were set aside, youngsters who had little experience and those with vested interests took the centre stage. For a work which can be handled by one person, there were more than 10 persons for the same work,” an NRI who attended the meeting said.
Those who had spent millions of dollars for the YSR Congress party and strived to build the NRI wing of the party could not get an opportunity to meet Jagan. What was worse, they had a humiliating experience at the venue.
“For instance, prominent NRI and 70-year old gentleman Lakkireddy Hanimi Reddy had been waiting for more than an hour at the hotel where Jagan checked in. But a woman NRI convenor completely ignored him and took her relatives inside to introduce them to Jagan. Those who strived for the party also could not get a chance to meet him,” he explained.
Even on the dais, Lakkireddy had to face humiliation. He was first offered a seat, but was asked to get up a few minutes later and made to stand at a corner. After standing on the dais for an hour, he quietly made an exit from the hall.
Same was the situation for another elderly man Pailla Malla Reddy, who managed to get a seat in the general row after standing for quite a long time without any seat.
American Telugu Association (ATA) leader Hanumantha Reddy also had to face the same experience. Several bigwigs among the Telugu community were strongly disappointed they expressed their anguish and anger at the organisers.
The younger leaders had shown scant respect towards seniors. Many of the NRI committee members did not get their tags and in fact, nobody knew who was giving which tag. The VIPs were given white tags, but many others procured these white tags from Wall Mart shop.
Finally, 500 people could VVIP tags. Those who had donated over a 10 lakh ruppes were promised VVIP tags with their photographs, but finally none of them could get it.
“Those who attended the event by spending hundreds of dollars from all corners of the US returned with a huge disappointment,” an NRI said.
