Irony died in Visakhapatnam on Republic Day. Sixty-seven years after the Constitution of India was adopted on this day, 26 January 1950, “We the People” of Andhra Pradesh were slapped with Section 144 on and around Ramakrishna Beach in Vizag, to ensure they could not congregate there to demand special category status (SCS) for the state. The attempt to do a Marina in Vizag wasn’t in the city’s destiny. 

The Marina uprising has been an inspiration. It showed the power of the Tamil makkal (youth) to force the executive to do what they wanted on allowing Jallikattu, the bull-taming sport, despite the Supreme Court ban. It was but natural for Andhra to try and emulate its east coast brethren.

But it was not to be. Chandrababu Naidu, obviously wiser from what he saw happened in Chennai, decided the RK beach would be out of bounds. The government took refuge in apparent intelligence reports that suggested that Maoists and other anti-social elements would infiltrate into the crowd and create trouble. And the police decided it could not take that risk, given that it was Republic Day and from 27 January, Vizag is hosting A Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) summit. But it looked suspiciously similar to the anti-national narrative the Tamil Nadu government put out to drive out the protesters from the Marina beach on day 7 of the agitation.

Though it is easy to blame Naidu for the failure of the proposed Vizag protest, the fact remains that the protest was planned in a ham-handed manner without any thought given to the meticulous planning that went into Chennai. Social media was used extensively in Tamil Nadu, with the votaries of Jallikattu linking their campaign to a fight for Tamil pride and identity. Those who were behind the Vizag campaign ought to know that merely changing the display pictures of a few hundred Twitter handles to “We want SCS” does not create a mass emotional outpouring and connect. 

The other mistake the SCS campaign made was to let politicians get into the scene. The moment Leader of Opposition, YS Jaganmohan Reddy got into the act, it appeared to be like any other political protest that his party, the YSR Congress, does. In the build-up to 26 January, the votaries of the beach silent protest were projecting it as apolitical and led by the youth of Andhra. Jagan instead raised the decibel level, even going on a dharna right on the tarmac of Vizag airport. While the sit-down in a prohibited zone made for breaking news and screaming headlines, it did not help the agitation to take off. 

Ditto with actor-turned-politician Pawan Kalyan. His team was supporting the plan for Republic Day from day one but many others weren’t too keen on Pawan stealing the limelight. In the end, it seemed as if YSR Congress and Jana Sena activists were the ones masquerading as the youth of Andhra. The political colour to an apolitical citizen effort did not help the cause. 

If Jagan and Pawan were indeed keen on the silent protest becoming a success, they should have stayed in the background, without appearing overenthusiastic to hog the limelight. The mistake was to convert it into yet another anti-Naidu show rather than a fight against injustice to Andhra.

Tollywood disappointed, unlike Kollywood, which spoke in one voice for Marina’s expression of displeasure. Except for actor Sampoornesh Babu who flew into Vizag only to get arrested, no Telugu film actor even raised a voice. This when actors like Mahesh Babu had tweeted in support of Jallikattu in Tamil Nadu. Clearly, no film personality wants to be on the wrong side of the governments in New Delhi or Amaravati. 

Chennai was a success because it was apolitical, spontaneous, driven mainly by social media and word-of-mouth and did not allow any celebrity – political or movie star – to hog the limelight. The Marina was a sea of unknown faces for who Jallikattu had become the tipping point of their collective angst.

The demand for SCS is neither irrelevant nor illogical. It was a promise made by previous UPA government on the floor of Parliament and the BJP in its enthusiasm to do well in the 2014 elections in Andhra, said it will bestow special status on the residuary state for 10 years, as opposed to the five envisaged by Dr Manmohan Singh. After the National Democratic Allaince came to power, it retracted on its word.

Despite pressure mounted by Naidu, the Centre was unwilling to budge arguing other south Indian states too have raised objections. Also the tradition has been to give the status only to hill states and those in the north-east. What was offered in lieu was a special package, which included funding the Polavaram irrigation project, tax concessions and special assistance. Left with no choice, Naidu fell in line. 

Naidu who takes pride in his communication skills, should have explained why he is fine with the special package and why beyond a change in nomenclature, he still has achieved what he asked for. Instead, you have reports of Union minister and Naidu confidante, YS Choudhary taunting the Jallikattu-inspired protesters saying they could as well conduct pig races or cockfights. The insensitive comment is insulting the people, already emotionally hurt by the division of Andhra Pradesh.  

The demand for SCS, right or wrong, is linked to Telugu pride. The citizens of Andhra feel aggrieved that they were let down by New Delhi when it carved out Telangana for political considerations. They are justified in blaming their political representatives who till the very last, were cocky in their arrogance that they would ensure Andhra is not bifurcated. It is not for nothing that the Congress party today does not have a single MLA or MP from Andhra. 

Naidu would have enhanced his democratic credentials by allowing a regulated show on the Beach, with the police standing vigil. To convert the beach into a fortress on Republic Day was bad optics and messaging. 

As far as the people of Andhra are concerned, they would do well to remember that a remake also needs some originality and tweaking. By rushing in to meet the 26 January deadline, they messed it up.