Two important developments took place in Andhra Pradesh on Thursday.

One, YSR Congress party president and chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy released results of the successful candidates who passed out the written test for being appointed as village and ward secretaries in the Village/Ward Secretariats to come into operation from October 2.

Second, Telugu Desam Party president and former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu submitted a memorandum to Governor Biswabhushan Harichandan at Raj Bhavan on the alleged atrocities by YSR Congress party on the TDP workers in the last three months and the circumstances that led to suicide of former speaker Kodela Sivaprasada Rao.

As a matter of fact, the first one was a big development that required coverage in the media in a very big way. For, it is for the first time in the history of any state that 1,26,728 unemployed youth are being given jobs at a time through a single GO.

And they are all permanent government jobs, not temporary or outsourcing ones. It should have been given huge publicity by the government. And Jagan himself should have addressed a press conference to make the announcement, since it is a historic development.

But what has the government done?

The release of results was a closed door affair and not even camera persons of electronic media were allowed inside.

As usual, the CMO’s publicity wing washed off its hands by releasing pictures, videos and press releases to the media. Unfortunately, even the YSRC, as a party, has miserably failed to cash in on it.

Just imagine Chandrababu Naidu in place of Jagan for this event of announcing over one lakh jobs.

He would have given it an unprecedented media hype well in advance and garnered huge publicity by personally addressing press conference even by calling the national media. And he would have got the image of “Des Ka Neta!”

And see how Naidu, now just an opposition leader, attracted the media in Vijayawada for his programme of meeting the Governor to complain against the YSRC government.

The media, who could not get the opportunity to cover Jagan’s one-lakh-jobs event, thronged Naidu’s programme in big numbers.

Later, when Naidu addressed a press conference at Hotel Taj Gateway, more than a 100 scribes attended it though invitations were sent to only 60 journalists.

The TDP chief first ate their brains by attacking Jagan and YSRC and later provided them sumptuous five star lunch. He ensured that not a single journalist was left out.

That is Naidu!