The 2014 defeat was so humiliating for the Congress party that the leadership, from 10, jan path to Tiruapti, began feeling something human with them also. They hit the roads on people’s issues like ordinary party workers. Even Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi also participated in the dharnas and rushed into well of Lok Sabha.

The residents of Tirupati were witness to a similar spectacle yesterday. Dr Chinta Mohan, the former MP from Tiruapti, undertook a ‘Padayatra’ along with his followers from Maternity Hospital in town to the Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences (SVIMS) campus, demanding implementation of important developmental projects. He says TDP and NDA government have abandoned these projects credit goes to Congress and UPA and of course, to him as the local MP.

Chinta Mohan was an absentee landlord of Tirupati Lok Sabha constituency. None here ever recall a day when they saw their MP roam around the city discussing people’s issues during his hay days. His proximity to 10, Jan Path guaranteed him Lok Sabha ticket in every election. If somebody else’s name is announced as candidate of the Congress , Mohan ensures that the B Form is not given to him. At the eleventh hour, much to the surprise of all local leaders, Chinta Mohan descends at the office of returning officer and files nomination, while the official nominee watches it with his mouth agape.

Such a man, now, after the humiliating defeat, is seen on the roads of Tirupati. He came down heavily on TDP government, for scrapping “half-a-dozen projects sanctioned by the UPA-II regime” for which “he claims’ had put serious efforts. He said a 300-bed Institute of Obstetrics, a super-specialty maternity hospital, were all sidelined. “The 7,008 houses sanctioned for poor women, free treatment at SVIMS hospital, the Rs.120-crore cancer hospital and the international cricket stadium project have been brushed under the carpet. And Tirumala darshan system for Tirupati residents has also been abandoned” he said.