Neta Natter | Revanth, star of Congress show

At the recent AICC convention in Ahmedabad, Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy emerged as the undisputed star of the show — scoring what some cheekily called a ‘political century’ in front of the party brass. With Congress-ruled states being just three, it was Revanth who stole the spotlight among his peers from Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh. Rahul Gandhi, not one to toss compliments lightly, broke into a rare display of praise, hailing Revanth’s swift execution of the caste census — calling it a “revolutionary step” and hinting it could be the template for a national rollout should the Congress return to power. Rahul's public endorsement squashed whispers of a supposed cold war between the two leaders. But Rahul’s direct shoutout seemed to send a clear message: All’s well in the Congress. With Rahul name-dropping Revanth on the AICC stage, the message was loud and clear — there’s more unity than meets the gossip.

Fine rice keeps the pot boiling

Claiming credit for the achievements of their government is nothing new for politicians. The recent launch of fine quality rice distribution to white ration card holders in Telangana set off a flurry of such credit-claiming. The visits by ministers to the homes of fine rice beneficiaries for a meal have not just ensured that the government promise is actually being kept, and its implementation is being keenly monitored, but also prompted BRS leader T. Harish Rao to claim credit for the BRS government for supplying fine rice to social welfare schools, colleges and hostels. He went on to add that fine rice, during the BRS tenure, was also supplied to several states. But then, civil supplies minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy took things a step further, flagging off a huge shipment of sanna biyyam to the Philippines in a first-of-its-kind export. Irrespective of claims and counterclaims, one thing is now certain. That fine rice from Telangana is all set to tickle the palate of Filipinos, in a country that pioneered rice research in the world, and is a feather on the government’s cap.

When a river is not quite a river

No one is immune from the vagaries of time as the sand runs out of a clock. Such appears to be the case with Tungathurthy MLA Mandula Samuel, known for his way with words and winning the 2023 election with a large margin, who is now finding the sand slipping from his fingers. During the campaign, Samuel had promised at every meeting that he would allow no sand to be mined from the Musi riverbed in his constituency, if he was voted to victory. Sure enough, for a couple of months after his win, this promise appeared to have been kept but it is now back to business for those mining and selling sand from the river. Recently, when some villagers met him and complained about this, Samuel reportedly said that taking sand from the Bikkeru stream, a tributary of the Musi, would be allowed, leaving folks wondering just how much they can trust their MLA.

Why NVS survived the purge of oldies

Talk about staying on track and not getting derailed. After the recent purge of retired officials holding on to various posts, Hyderabad Metro Rail managing director N.V.S. Reddy, who was among those purged, is back piloting the rail system. The reason? The government with its plans to expand the Metro Rail system vastly in Hyderabad, needs an experienced hand to keep the expansion chugging and the project completed.

What’s the secret at art varsity?

When is a colloquium an exam? When it happens in the Jawaharlal Nehru Architecture and Fine Arts University. What was meant to be an open discussion was described as an “exam” and even those with formal invitations to the event were barred by university officials. That this happened inside an institution fostering the study of art, where students are taught that expression is supposed to be celebrated, raised the question if the JNAFAU had something to keep under the wraps and away from the rest of society.

In Jagtial, a bit of friendly fire

When is someone a friend, a foe, an enemy, or a frenemy? No one appears to be in the know in Jagtial as two leaders in the Congress, former MLC T. Jeevan Reddy and MLA Sanjay Kumar, who joined the Congress from the BRS, are busy keeping the political kettle boiling. Jeevan Reddy has been charging Sanjay with indulging in the not-so-noble act of jumping parties, while Sanjay, who says he is yet to take formal membership of his new party, has been asking what the issue was all about, especially given Jeevan Reddy’s own history of welcoming small contingents of BRS workers into the Congress. This is leaving those watching the goings on wondering if all is well with the Congress in Jagtial.

Nedurumalli scion shows his class

Nedurumalli Ramkumar Reddy, YSR Congress leader and Venkatagiri constituency incharge in Tirupati district, has shown that beneath that calm exterior of his, lies a crafty strategist. This past week, even as TD leaders were confident of toppling Venkatagiri municipality chairperson Nakka Bhanu Priya through a no-confidence motion, Rajkumar spirited away YSRC civic members to an undisclosed location, leaving the TD scrambling to muster up the numbers. The attempt collapsed, leaving local TD MLA K. Ramakrishna and TD’s chairperson post hopeful Donthu Sarada chasing the shadows.

A request, wrapped in a sweet

Nothing like a sweet deal. Especially if the request for one comes accompanied by the pootharekulu made famously in Dr B.R. Ambedkar Konaseema district of Andhra Pradesh. Union minister of state Bhupathiraju Srinivasa Varma, keen on getting funds to develop his Narsapuram Lok Sabha constituency, has been taking batches of pootharekulu to New Delhi and gifting them to officials along with requests for getting things done in Narsapuram. This lip-smacking approach of the minister was revealed by MLC and AP former BJP president Somu Veerraju at a meeting at Rajamahendravaram recently.

MLA lets boss Pawan take the fire

While YSRC veteran and former TTD chairman Bhumana Karunakar Reddy never loses an opportunity to stick it to AP Deputy CM and Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan, the Jana Sena ranks in Tirupati have been wondering where their partymate and MLA Arani Srinivasulu is. Arani has remained conspicuous through his silence on attacks on his party boss, leading to party cadres wondering if the MLA was a tad worried about poking the Bhumana bear. Then there are murmurs that Arani has been simply keeping the YSRC scarf ironed and ready, just in case.

Contributions from Vadrevu Srinivas, Avinash P. Subramanyam, Pathri Rajasekhar, Mrittika Banerjee, L. Venkat Ram Reddy, Neeraj Kumar, P. Srinivas, Sanjay Samuel Paul, Puli Sharath Kumar