AP Neta Natter | Naidu, At 75 The ‘Triple Youngster’

Nara Lokesh added a memorable flourish when he described his father and Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu as a ‘triple youngster’. Naidu, Lokesh said, has the drive of not one but three 25-year-olds. Legacy, energy and organisation, all which Lokesh stitched into a neat sound bite. The minister for education, IT and electronics said changing times demand change within parties too, stressing that the Telugu Desam’s real strength lay in its cadre. Commitment, he underlined, was the reason responsibilities had been distributed through party committees — organisation before ornamentation. AP’s growing appeal among industries, he argued, was driven by Naidu’s credibility and track record. A trend-setter, the Chief Minister continues to work with youthful energy even at 75 and that, according to Lokesh, is the example for others to follow.

Naidu Puts Party Men On Probation

Amaravati’s political theatre witnessed a familiar scene this week — Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu reminding his party leaders that party posts are meant for work, not just visiting-card decorations. With his patience apparently running low on this front, Naidu, after noticing the vanishing act performed by leaders from several districts at a Lok Sabha constituency committees’ training programme, issued some blunt instructions: Opposition criticism will not dissolve on its own, and silence is not a strategy. Those who recently acquired posts were told not to get too comfortable, with Naidu announcing a three-month ‘trial period’ during which performance will be closely watched. The message was clear: Those mistaking positions for permanent entitlements may soon find themselves replaced by newer, hungrier faces. Naidu apparently is done with attendance sheets, titles or loud loyalty. Only visible work counts — and the unwilling might as well step aside and make room for the willing.

Deepak Lets Go Again, This Time At IAS

Googlies rarely come straight as any cricketer who faced a few of those will vouch. The thing about them is they are hard to read, and delivering them with an apparent unfailing regularity is TD’s former MLC G. Deepak Reddy. His recent comments as he openly took on IAS officers, calling them a burden on the country, reached some sharp ears in the bureaucratic bosses who ensured that the matter reached the government’s top leadership. What followed was predictable, the TD leadership is said to have questioned Deepak Reddy on his choice of words. The response was not probably what the party wanted to hear: Someone has to speak the truth, even if it causes discomfort, exercising restraint as a ruling party leader be damned. Deepak’s portrayal of IAS officers had something to do with someone from those ranks showing little urgency in clearing his salary matters. If such was his fate, then what about the common public. Deepak is no stranger to such situations having been in a spot of trouble after receiving a word of caution from TD supremo N. Chandrababu Naidu for his comments on TV during the IndiGo flight controversy.

Tide Runs Out Of Visakha Utsav

The Visakha Utsav, the pride of the city of Visakhapatnam, has experienced some buffeting, not from the waves from the Bay of Bengal playing spoilsport but from apparently not so efficient organisation. Even Vizag mayor Peela Srinivasa Rao sulked and left the inauguration ceremony in a huff after he was reportedly asked by the district collector to give up his front-row seat for a VIP. No amount of pleading from ministers or other TD leaders assuaged Rao’s feelings and the mayor stormed out of the venue. The festive woes did not end there. A three-day celebration, this year’s edition was handed over to an event management company and, despite promises of grandeur, event schedules were missing, and the over 150 stalls at RK Beach, rented out at steep prices, failed to draw crowds making the whole event appear as if it was a low tide event.

Botsa Feels The Punch Of Uncivil Ouster From Civic Body

It’s not easy when not in power as senior YSRC leader and leader of the opposition in AP Legislative Council Botsa Satyanarayana found out after his name was removed from the GVMC ex-officio list. His outbursts at ‘this nonsense’ in the run-up to the GVMC meeting did not cut any ice despite his reminder that he was a regular attendee at previous council meetings and protestations at his name being struck off when he was an MLC. Even worse for Botsa, Visakhapatnam district collector H.N. Harinder Prasad’s response that the matter would be looked into, was seen as a neither here, nor there response.

A Sankranti Gift, And A High-flyer Feels The Cut

A casual request for a Sankranti gift kicked up a major political row between the Telugu Desam and YSRC leaders leading to a challenge from the Opposition party to ruling party’s Chandragiri MLA Pulivarthy Venkata Mani Prasad say under oath at the Kanipakam temple that he was not corrupt. The TD MLA, during a routine visit, asked a woman worker about her welfare. She asked for a Sankranti gift, saying that Chevireddy Bhaskar Reddy, his predecessor from the YSRC, used to give festival presents. The TD MLA reacted alleging that Chevireddy was corrupt and hence could afford to buy gifts from the pelf he collected. This obviously did not go down well with Chevireddy’s son Mohith Reddy who took MLA’s remarks on corruption very seriously and dared Prasad if he was ready to take an oath at Kanipakam temple saying that he was not involved in any corrupt activities. There the matter rests for now.

Contributions from Laxmi Pranati, Aruna, Md Ilyas, Avinash P. Subramanyam, Sampat G. Samritan, K.M.P. Patnaik, Pathri Rajasekhar