AP Neta Natter | Under Naidu, It May Be Fifth Time Lucky For Kadapa Steel Plant

Never give up. Try and try again, as did King Bruce of Scotland as the story of him and a spider goes. And apparently inspired by the old adage, a ground-breaking ceremony for a steel plant in Jammalamadugu happened, for the fifth time ever since the plans for the plant were drawn up in 2007. The plant, for which the ground was first broken when Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy was CM of undivided AP, had 10,760 acres of land, water from the Gandikota reservoir and land for an airport, but his passing stalled the project and the mining leases were later cancelled. After Andhra Pradesh's bifurcation, a steel plant in Kadapa was promised under the AP Reorganisation Act. The latest ground-breaking by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu the other day, preceded by similar actions by him 2019, following which the Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy government held similar ceremonies the same year, and again 2023, but the project remained largely on paper. With the new thrust of the Naidu dispensation, it appears that after the fifth foundation stone, the plant may start coming up finally.

Mavigun? Lokesh proposes ‘Bentahy’ for Jagan

Former CM Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy appears to have decided, at least for now, that his next poll plank will be the ‘MAVIGUN - Machilipatnam-Vijayawada-Guntur’ region and its development even as the present TD-BJP government is powering on with its plans for a new capital, Amaravati. Jagan’s stand that AP should have three cities – Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Kurnool as executive, legislative and judicial capitals — did not find many takers. Following Jagan’s recent statement that his party will fight the next elections on the issue of developing MAVIGUN, minister Nara Lokesh was quick on the uptake saying Jagan might even propose a new capital region ‘BenTaHy’, which Lokesh helpfully explained, will stand for Bengaluru Tadepalli and Hyderabad as Jagan has close associations with those cities, in what appeared to be a dismissal of Jagan’s MAVIGUN dreams.

TD Man falls for oldest trick in tech book

Politicians, many fairly adept at handling public meetings, cameras and media attention, still appear unable to catch up on the dangers of technology, particularly the ability of a smartphone user to record a conversation. Falling into this category was Chandragiri MLA Pulivarthi Nani whose alleged phone conversation with Chandragiri Congress in-charge Irala Lokesh Reddy created a buzz in political circles after it was, well, leaked. The conversation reportedly centred around a land dispute in the Tirupati Rural area, Nani allegedly lost his cool over the legal battle being pursued by a retired judge and the political criticism from his rival Chevireddy Bhaskar Reddy of the YSRC. The Telugu Desam MLA’s reported choice of words against them has now become a bigger talking point than the issue behind the conversation. While the truth behind the land-grabbing allegations will be decided elsewhere, the leaked conversation has started doing rounds on social media, triggering a debate on the language allegedly used by the MLA.

MLA kicks up a racket near a hospital

One man’s partying, can be another person’s problem. This is what precisely happened on the night of July 1, when birthday celebrations of local TD MLA Mamidi Govinda Rao were held at the Erukola complex in Pathapatnam, Srikakulam district. Despite a children’s hospital located nearby, and residential areas, the event featured loud sound systems and dance performances, sparking outrage among the people. Questions quickly began doing the rounds on why the police, and officials supported the event despite the location of the venue near a hospital. Residents in the area are still coming to terms that the MLA personally oversaw the performances with what they say was scant respect to the common people, even as former MLA Reddy Shanthi joined in, criticising Rao, and declaring him unfit for office and describing the incident as a blatant disregard for public welfare.

Grievance meet gives babus grounds for grouse

Government officials attending the public grievance meeting in Udayagiri probably expected another routine day of collecting petitions, offering reassuring nods and sending files on their traditional pilgrimage marked ‘under process’. Instead, they encountered an unusually fiery Udayagiri MLA Kakarla Suresh, who reminded officials that villagers from remote areas often make seven or eight trips to mandal offices just to get one problem resolved, spending money on bus fares or petrol while sacrificing precious daily wages. His bottom line to the officials? “Their problems shouldn't travel more than they do.” Not stopping there, Suresh offered a stick wrapped in a carrot. If any official has lost interest in working and attending to public grievances, the he or she was free to seek a transfer, and that he would gladly help recommend one.

Pens and books as gifts, and a sharp poke

Politicians are often garlanded on many occasions. Attempting to change this practice is the Amalapuram’s TD MLA, Ayithabathula Ananda Rao who advised his followers not to bring flowers and bouquets. Instead, folks can bring pens and notebooks that can then be distributed among school going students. This advice appeared to have clicked, with many of his followers bringing notebooks and pens and to greeted him on his birthday recently. But then, old habits have a hard way of dying, and one group of followers brought a garland of pens. The collection now awaits distribution among students, even as some persons cheekily commented that the MLA can keep some of the notebooks and pens and write his memoirs.

Why Raju hopes Pawan will become home minister

Apparently hit to the quick by the tongue-lashing he received by his adversaries — former civil servant P.V. Sunil Kumar, lawyer Jada Sravan and former MP Harsha Kumar —TD Undi MLA and Deputy Speaker Raghu Rama Krishna Raju is reportedly hoping that that Deputy Chief Minster Pawan Kalyan gets the post of home minister. The MLA’s hope, reportedly is that Pawan Kalyan is not averse to that portfolio, having commented on a few occasions that the law and order situation in the state would have been different in the state had he been the home minister. Raju has also reportedly pinned some hope that the Naidu government will see a Cabinet reshuffle after one happens at the Centre and that Pawan Kalyan will secure the home minister position. The only problem? Naidu holds the charge for law and order and is unlikely to give it up anytime soon.

Brahmanandam gives GST meet a Genial Smiling Twist

Trust a comedian to relieve some stress, even when the subject is as weighty as the GST. On a phone call he received from the Telangana GST department, renowned actor Brahmanandam said he was taken aback, and wondered if he had defaulted on any taxes, and waited with dread for the message. Delivered in a gruff voice, the statement led to some amusement from the audience at the GST Day function last week. The former Telugu teacher and Padma Shri awardee said that his anxiety was gone once it turned out that he was being invited to the event as the ‘guest of honour’. But he also revealed that there was some anxiety as he was neither an expert on GST, nor a charismatic hero, but consented his presence with a lot of questions in mind. “Amidst these experts what can a comedian like me do other than making the audience laugh,” he said. As he continued speaking mimicking the voices of leaders and politicians, Brahmanandam said he was acting like them, only to show that he was pretending that he understood what GST was all about. Then came the punchline: “The podium helps. Standing behind it, the shaking of the legs in fear cannot be seen,” he said as the audience broke into laughter.

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