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A safe seat for Naidu? How about Cuttak?

George Iype in Cuttack

"If Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu contests the next assembly elections from Orissa, he will certainly win."

This comment comes not from a Telugu Desam Party worker, but from a 55-year-old resident of Cuttak. For thousands of residents of this commercial town, Naidu is not just the neighbouring state's chief minister, but a saviour who was the first to reach them after the October 29 cyclone devastated the town.

No wonder, then, that dozens of banners praising Naidu have come up in Cuttack city. "Dear Naiduji, Thank you for saving our lives," says one banner. "We thank the AP Chief Minister for his timely help," says another.

Cuttack residents claim that it was Naidu who was more prepared to face the killer typhoon than the state government led by Chief Minister Giridhar Gamang and his men.

The cyclone uprooted most of the town's trees, telephone and electricity poles and destroyed many houses. Officially the toll in Cuttak district stood at 1,400. Affected villages: 2,400.

Just hours after the killer cyclone hit coastal Orissa, Naidu had deployed men to clear the national high way connecting Orissa and Andhra Pradesh.

"Naidu reacted and acted swiftly because he feared the cyclone would hit Machilipatnam in Andhra Pradesh. But when the cyclone turned its fury towards our districts, he sent his government's relief teams Cuttack and Puri immediately," said an Orissa state government official.

In fact, it was because of Naidu's swift action that Orissa could re-establish contact with the outside world.

A day after the cyclone destroyed the power supply and telephone lines in capital Bhubaneswar, Naidu rushed the Srikakulam district police superintendent of police J Purnachandre Rao to the Orissa chief minister with an Iridium satellite phone.

Naidu's rescue team was the first to reach Cuttak. This team included an expert road-clearing unit, a group of electricians and a team of 50 doctors and 400 paramedics.

The AP rescue and relief operations were headed by the Director General of Police H J Dora and AP Diary Development Cooperative Federation managing director B P Acharya.

"Naidu's teams came to Cuttack one day after the cyclone. They immediately began removing trees blocking roads, rescuing marooned villagers and restoring water lines," says Hanumantha Das, a resident of Cuttak.

Das' recently-built three-bed room house was destroyed when a huge tree fell on it. "My son's legs were broken and my head was wounded. But the medical team from Andhra Pradesh treated us in the mobile medical vans for two days," Das said.

Armed with cutters, axes and spades, Naidu's road clearing team restored the national highway in one day. To contain outbreak of water-borne diseases, doctors and paramedics spread out into the villages.

Naidu soon sent 100 tonnes of milk powder, 35 truckloads of rice and wheat and more than 100 lorries carrying essential items like fruits, bread, biscuits, mineral water, match boxes, blankets and plastic sheets.

Residents of Cuttack say by the time aid came from Bhubaneswar four days after the cyclone, Naidu's rescue and relief teams had almost restored life in many of the nearby villages.

"Never have I seen such an efficient operation. I think the Orissa government needs to learn a few lessons on disaster management from our neighbour. Today, Naidu is more popular in Orissa than Gamang," Prafulla Mohanty, another Cuttack resident claimed.

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