Dilkusha — the word which means “something that makes the heart happy”, nowadays has a different connotation for IAS officials, politicians and businessmen in the state. Dilkusha Guest House, the camp office of multidisciplinary teams of the CBI that are probing high-profile cases involving VIPs of the state, has become a nightmare for the accused and suspects in the scams. After a series of arrests of VIPS in the Emaar scam and the Kadapa MP Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s assets’ case, a call from the CBI to visit Dilkusha is like a nightmare with everyone wondering if the person will come out of Dilkusha unscathed or will be arrested.
Top businessmen Koneru Prasad, Nimmagadda Prasad and Emaar MGF representatives were grilled here. IAS official B.P. Acharya, N. Sunil Reddy and Vijay Sai Reddy were quizzed and shifted to jail. On the other hand, VIPs who take suites on rent in Dilkusha often put the media off-track. Recently, CBI joint director V.V. Lakshminarayana had asked journalists to leave the place but in vain. Dilkusha Guest House was constructed in 1935 for the silver jubilee of Nizam-VII Mir Osman Ali Khan’s coronation.
Kiran to throw his weight around
Everyone is commenting about Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy’s physique these days. The normally athletic former cricketer who always maintained his weight thanks to regular exercising, is sporting a paunch and carrying excess pounds these days. When his close friends complained, the CM explained that he had been advised frequent rests and had also been ordered to stay away from the treadmill by his doctor because of a niggling back problem. This advisory will be in place for a few more weeks, after which he will be back on the treadmill. The CM explained that the lack of exercise was the reason he had put on the extra kilos and would shed it as soon as he got back to exercising. His current weight is 78.5 kg as against a normal weight of 70 kg.
Mishra ‘dares’ the CBI
Principal secretary Ajay Mishra has become a hero of sorts among babus after he belled the cat (the Central Bureau of Investigation) recently. The bureaucrats had been fuming and fretting over the top investigation agency targeting them relentlessly but did not have the guts to do anything about it. Mishra, who had nothing to fear as he did not have a role in any of the on-going CBI investigations, put up a brave face before the agency officials. According to officers with whom he shared the outcome of his meeting with the CBI joint director, Mishra raised objections on issues ranging from embarrassing L.V. Subrahmanyam on the day of his son’s marriage to letting off the real beneficiaries of the scam.
Kiran at peace minus Botsa
Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy who is lobbying strongly for the implementation of the “one-man and one-post” rule to ease his rival PCC chief and transport minister Botsa Satyanarayana out of the Cabinet, found justification for his efforts in the latest Cabinet meet. He convened the Cabinet after a long gap of three months and to his great relief, Botsa was absent. It may be a coincidence, but the PCC boss was away in Delhi doing what he is best at — liaising with party central leaders besides meeting the PM — on the day the Cabinet meet was held.
Prakash, a tough cookie
The state government has been left in an embarrassing situation with officials, one after another, abandoning the Pollution Control Board chaired by ex-bureaucrat Janaki Kondapi. Not only did the member-secretary Dana Kishore go on leave but several second-rung officials also cancelled their deputations and got out of the board. When chief secretary Pankaj Dwivedi put Rajesh Tiwari in charge, the latter did not take up the job. The government has now come up with the tough Praveen Prakash to deal with the chairperson. Rumours have it that the government just might post him as regular member-secretary.
Who’s next on CBI’s list?
The question that is on every bureaucrat and minister’s mind is “Who’s next?” The arrests of Y. Srilakshmi, B.P. Acharya, V.D. Rajagopal and others have made bureaucrats jittery and perhaps for the first time in the country, several IAS officers are getting ready to go to jail thanks to the YSR government. “I feel the Chief Secretary is the most worried man. Every second day, an IAS officer’s name is cropping up and a few days later, he lands up in jail. This is the most trying of times for any services head,” remarked an IAS officer. For a change, IAS officers who back-stab each other and are forever trying to suck up to powers that be for plum postings, are rallying around their jailed colleagues. “It’s fine that the officer is punished for a crime. But the minister who gave the order should also be jailed,” says an official. Ministers in the former YSR Cabinet are worried but are trying to put up a brave face. Remarked an IAS official, “Don’t these people have shame? Don’t their conscience prick for sending officials to jail? Why is the CBI not inquiring into the assets of each minister?”