NETA NATTER| A ‘Chilaka Jyotishyam’ Portend For CS?

A rare guest flew into the corridors of power in Telangana on Wednesday, landing straight in the Chief Secretary’s chamber at the Secretariat. Startled staff watched as an African grey parrot perched comfortably, seemingly oblivious to the buzz it created. With heavy rain all around, the parrot may have strayed into the Secretariat in search of shelter. Staff allowed the exotic bird to rest before alerting the forest department. Officials promptly arrived and took the parrot into custody, confirming it was indeed a rare African grey, usually found thousands of miles away in Central Africa. But what began as a quirky wildlife episode quickly turned into the stuff of political gossip. Bureaucratic circles began whispering that the bird’s surprise visit was “auspicious,” more so since it entered the chamber of Chief Secretary K. Ramakrishna Rao, who is due for retirement on August 31, and is awaiting word on a possible extension of his tenure. The parrot’s arrival, some joked, may have already “delivered the message from above.”

For Kavitha, trip to the land of dreams brings nightmares

Politicians are sticklers for sentiment. Take the case of the Telangana former chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao who reportedly stopped going to the Secretariat because of bad vastu. Now, it appears to be the turn of his nearly estranged daughter and BRS MLC K. Kavitha who seems to face increasing odds each time she goes on a visit to the USA, and gets pushed into political wilderness from those within her party. Kavitha, currently in the USA, faced the ignominy of summary dismissal as the honorary president of the Telangana Boggu Gani Karmika Sangham a few days ago. Her woes in the party began the last time she was in the USA this past May with her letter to her father KCR getting leaked and setting off a chain of events blowing open a simmering battle she was waging with her party’s ‘leadership’. Now, on her second visit this year to the USA, she lost the one significant post she was hanging on to in a party-affiliated organisation. The USA might be lucky for some, but for Kavitha, the ‘Land of Dreams’ appears to be turning into a far shore laden with nightmares.

Seethakka vs Surekha: Neighbours get into a race

Competition, well, can get competitive. Especially when the persons happen to be politicians, and MLAs, with their constituencies practically next to one another. If they are also ministerial colleagues, then all bets may well be off. Such seems to be the case with Telangana ministers Danasari ‘Seethakka’ Anasuya who represents Mulugu, and Konda Surekha from Warangal East whose offices have put out slickly produced digital pamphlets ‘One month-One minister-Many achievements’. The first to hit the social media circuit was Seethakka’s office followed soon after by Surekha’s office. Among achievements listed were mentions of press conferences, and pictures from various meetings, all highlighting the two ministers. Of course, the ‘Spotlight – August 2025 Edition’ ‘magazine’ of sorts, also had the pictures of ministers with CM Revanth Reddy and other Cabinet colleagues, leaving many wondering if other ministers will now follow suit with their own ‘Spotlight’ issues.

Sleepless in CM’s office, till Revanth clears papers for the day

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has revealed a quirky work habit that sets him apart from his predecessor — he doesn’t go to bed until his office table is cleared. This revelation came during an informal chat with media persons on Tuesday, when Revanth said he makes it a rule to clear every single file before calling it a day. “Even if it takes me till 1 or 2 am, I will read, sign and clear all the files. I can’t sleep with pending papers on my table. Clutter, hampers efficiency and delays governance.” The Chief Minister also cited how former CM K. Chandrasekhar Rao was known for keeping thousands of files pending, with reports suggesting nearly 5,000 piled up at one stage. “Files stuck in limbo will ultimately hit good governance,” Revanth observed, stressing his approach is to keep the system moving without bottlenecks. His unusual “clean table policy” has sparked curiosity in bureaucratic circles, some calling it discipline, others branding it a touch of workaholic obsession.

Nimmala’s yellow bellows a secret

When the twain meet, the belief is that things will fall into place and for the good. Such appears to be the case with Andhra Pradesh’s water resources minister Nimmala Ramanaidu and his preference for his party colour yellow for his choice of shirts. Always seen in a yellow shirt, whether at public events, party meetings, or even at the recent engagement ceremony of his daughter, Nimmala’s sartorial choice has been getting a lot of attention. It is not just his preference to ride a bicycle, the TD symbol, or motorcycles when visiting villages, and always in a yellow shirt is gaining a lot of attention. The secret, according to his close followers is the colour of his shirts is not just because yellow is the TD’s colour, but also his lucky colour fast earning him the moniker of the ‘good fellow always in yellow’.

Whodunnit? TD MLAs wash hands off parole for convict

Talk about becoming prisoners of perception. Or possibly reality. And caught in this are several TD leaders in AP in a parole drama involving a life-term convict Srikanth who got a 30-day break from the Nellore Central Prison recently. Though Srikanth was back behind bars within five days with the parole orders withdrawn due to ‘sensitivity’ of the matter, the episode has led to much hand-wringing and protestations of innocence from the ruling party leaders, desperately trying to uncuff themselves from any possible political shackles that might tie them down in the days to come. While Gudur MLA Pasam Sunil Kumar admitted to giving a letter recommending the parole, he tried to wriggle out saying he only acted on a petition from a woman seeking to meet her son in prison. TD MLA Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy maintained he issued no letter, though he acknowledged being approached by a woman with links to Srikanth. Several others whose names are doing the rounds in the parole case have been silent, but the whispers on how a person — who earlier escaped from jail in 2014, spent years underground, and allegedly ran extortion rackets while sheltered by politicians – are refusing to die down.

Bhongir’s unique relationship with its MPs

May be this has something to do with the fact that none of the MPs elected from the Bhongir Lok Sabha constituency after its formation in 2009, are actually from Bhongir. Or may be, it is all about preferences but none of the MPs since 2009 have set up a dedicated camp office where people can come and interact with them. The preferred location for ‘camping’ when in the constituency has been a hotel on the Bhongir outskirts. The trend began with Congress candidate Komatireddy Raj Gopal Reddy after his win as the first MP from Bhongir. Dr Boora Narsaiah Goud, and then Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, who made it to the Lok Sabha in 2014 and in 2019, too preferred the hotel while the incumbent MP from Congress, Chamala Kiran Kumar Reddy, whose native village falls in Bhongir constituency — geographically it lies in Nalgonda district —has his camp office on the outskirts of Hyderabad.

Contributions from P. Srinivas, Balu Pulipaka, L. Venkat Ram Reddy, Vadrevu Srinivas, Pathri Rajasekhar