Shooting of letters to those in power is an old strategy of Opposition politicians. When nothing else succeeds and no agitation shows any impact, the politicians choose the letter-writing route. Dattatreya did this when he was AP BJP president. He shot off letters to YSR and even published the collection of letters into a book. These days, Chandrababu too is writing letters to the government officials on various issues. The latest to join the book-bandwagon is AP BJP president Somu Veerraju.

In the last 20 days, Somu Veerraju wrote as many as five letters on various issues to YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government. He seems to be of the opinion that letter-writing is a better strategy than issuing statements. One letter was on the statistics in the finance department of YS Jagan’s government. The second was on the contributory pension scheme. The third was on the restrictions on the Ganesha festival. Then he wrote about the lifting of police cases against some questionable politicians. The latest is about the problems being faced by the fisher-folk in AP.

Both Somu Veerraju and the AP BJP feel that these letters are having the desired effect. They feel that the government was responding to the letters. The party is of the opinion that the situation in the state is not conducive for street-fights and agitational activities. It feels that if the government responds to their agitation, the party can always claim a victory. If not they can take to streets and launch protests.

Initially, the government had responded to the letters sent by Somu Veerraju. This has emboldened the party. But, the ruling YSRCP is not responding to letters by Chandrababu Naidu. They are being consigned to the dust bin. Sources say that the government is responding to BJP’s letters because the party is not as powerful as the TDP is. They say that the BJP is deemed both toothless and harmless as of now.