The people want the BRS to change its name back to TRS. Dropping Telangana in the party name and replacing it with Bharat, was apparently a bad idea as the voters believed the party no longer cares for Telangana, was the argument. With Lok Sabha elections not too far away, the day may not be far off when the TRS will once again find its way into the public domain. But then, as floating test balloons are part of the strategy before the beginning of a new vote hunting season, the whole ‘reveal’ is being seen as a way to get people to talk about the party.
THE CM AND HIS POINTSMAN
Every chief minister will have a pointsman in his office and for A. Revanth Reddy it’s his special secretary Ajith Reddy. In the distribution of work at the Chief Minister’s Office, Ajith received all the important portfolios such as municipal administration, industries and IT, besides CM Relief Fund. The defence accounts services officer is a relative of Revanth and has been associated with him for a long time, though at a personal level, says a little birdie. It was bureaucrat Rajasekhar for K. Chandrashekar Rao, Lakshmi Narayana for N. Chandrababu Naidu in the combined state and Satish Chandra between 2014 and 2019. Dhanunjay Reddy is the pointsman for AP Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and Jawahar Reddy held this position when N. Kiran Kumar Reddy was chief minister. The lone exception was Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy to whom the pointsman was a non-bureaucrat and his close buddy Dr K.V.P. Ramachandra Rao.
ACCESSIBLE CM — REVANTH REDDY
Not all Chief Ministers are alike and Telangana state’s new Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has set the tone on how a person in a high position can be, by earning the sobriquet of the ‘most accessible CM’ in the one month since he took charge of the state. He meets leaders and workers from his party, common people who seek his time to submit petitions on their grievances, and has hardly missed a day without meeting ministers, MLAs, bureaucrats amidst holding a blitzkrieg of departmental review meetings. And those meeting with him from the world of business, industries, and investments, say they haven’t seen a CM who devotes time for investors and industrialists every day. Revanth also has been meeting regularly with leaders of other parties like the CPI and the CPM, and journalists with whom he shares his thoughts over what and how he wants to implement certain development programmes in the next five years.
VVIP MOVEMENT CAUSES COPS DISTRESS
Talk about tough times. The movie image of cops may be one of tough macho men but in real life, many appear to not have the stomach for some real hard work. Take the case of several inspectors of police from the Hyderabad West Zone. With more bandobast duties on the roads thanks to Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and ministers going to the Secretariat every day, the cops have started complaining about the increased VVIP movement. On top of this, is the fact that the zone is headed by an IPS officer considered to be very strict and goes into minute details of each small case. Bandobast and dealing with cases, is apparently getting too much for some cops, who have started making moves to get out of the zone and seek more restful pastures.
RAYUDU ON A STICKY WICKET
It just ain’t cricket, Ambati. That was the refrain when former Indian cricketer Ambati Rayudu announced his quitting the YSRC just 10 days after joining the party and said he was on duty for a cricket team and hence can’t be in politics. But, soon after, he met Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan, declaring that their political ideologies match and that he would be there for the people of Andhra Pradesh, after his commitment to cricket. Even TD supremo N. Chandrababu Naidu could not stay silent on the issue, despite his new alliance with the Jana Sena, saying Rayudu quit the game even before playing it. Just when folks thought Rayudu got free from the YSRC, his moves left people wondering if the political newbie had found himself on a sticky wicket.
AYYANNA MAKES WAY FOR SON?
Former minister and TD politburo member Ch Ayyanna Patrudu these days finds himself stuck between a rock and a hard place. He sought N. Chandrababu Naidu to give his son Vijay the TD ticket from the Anakapalli Lok Sabha seat, but the party chief said no. Naidu’s decision is reported to have irked Patrudu’s wife who wanted to see her son enter politics and told her husband to vacate his Narsipatnam seat in favour of their son. But for Patrudu, this election is crucial as the party is taking on the YSRC in a do or die battle, and at the same time, it could be a now or never moment to launch the son’s political career.
