Revanth draws a tough line, softly

Anyone trying to draw a line would do well to learn how to do it, softly, from Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy. At a function got up to mark revival of the Thammidikunta, Revanth Reddy shared his vision of what the lake could be, He wanted a jammi chettu, beloved of the Telugus, planted on the lake shores and traditional celebrations such as Dasara and Sankranti kite festivals hosted there. The space is to help urban residents reconnect with their cultural roots, and ensure that lakes are protected. Revanth explained said many Hyderabad residents longed to celebrate festivals in their native villages but had lost that opportunity after selling ancestral properties or permanently moving to the city. Festivals at rejuvenated lakes, he said, could recreate the home atmosphere for such families. Then came the punchline. In a lighter vein, Revanth cautioned people against demanding Sankranti cockfights in the name of tradition. Referring to the sizeable AP-origin population around Hitec City, he joked that there were several “Rajus” who might enthusiastically seek such events. But, he warned, allowing cockfights would only create “new problems”. Talk of zor ka jhatka dheere se lage.

Harish Rao runs into netizen ire

Talk about social media twisting the narrative with a clock. BRS leader T. Harish Rao set out with the good intention of catching the government napping with a surprise inspection of Siddipet Government Hospital on November 10. It was meant to expose truant doctors who scamper home, or to their clinics, after marking their attendance at the government hospital. Harish Rao duly found several doctors. In the glare of TV cameras, he began calling them up one by one, and questioning them how they could draw salaries from public money after marking attendance and disappearing. The videos duly went viral. But then, so did the counterattack. What about BRS chief K. Chandrashekar Rao, netizens asked. KCR was also marking his attendance in the Assembly and returning, they pointed out. As Leader of Opposition or as MLA from Gajwel, KCR wasn’t quite holding the government to account. Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has pointed out that KCR had drawn over ₹1.24 crore in salary and allowances since December 2023, and ₹21 crore had spent on his security. An netizen quipped that the Siddipet doctors may simply have taken their cue from KCR.

In his last innings, babu goes green

This is the story of a bureaucrat who is, well, turning over a new leaf. For over a decade, few bureaucrats have been as closely associated with the IT, industries and investment story as senior IAS officer Jayesh Ranjan. The state’s longest-serving IT and industries secretary is preparing for what could be his final hurrah with the government —the Invest Telangana Global Summit 2026. With around 10 months left for superannuation, Jayesh called it quits recently, after being moved out of the IT and industries department in April 2025. Buzz in bureaucratic circles is that he may hang up his pen after the prestigious summit next month. Interestingly, for a hardnosed industries man, Jayesh appears to be putting particular focus on the climate-change session of the summit. He is understood to be reaching out to global green-energy companies and industries pursuing environmentally sustainable technologies. Which may not be surprising as he is currently handling environment and forests department and the Environment Protection Training & Research Institute. For an officer who spent years selling Telangana as an investment destination, Ranjan appears to be going green with a vengeance in his new role.

Bandi’s barb bamboozles BJP

There is no softer way of saying this: Bandi Sanjay is blunt. Fires from the hip and wields the political stiletto with finesse, as his political rivals have often found out. But this past week, Bandi gave some tough love to his party colleagues. He warned BJP corporators of Karimnagar that they would not be spared if they were corrupt. This came as a surprise as Bandi usually fires such words at the Opposition. “There is no question of tolerating it if the corporators and leaders are involving in collecting money from shopowners or demanded money,” he said. Each such demand would cost the BJP 100 votes, he intoned. This caused everyone to wonder what caused Bandi to warn his rank and file. After all, the stiletto does have two sides. Was it a warning shot across the bow or did he know more than he was letting on?



 


Women in the mix: A devloping story

If it is chilly outside, it’s not just the weather. And in the mix are women. The cold war between seniors and newcomers turned frosty in the erstwhile Adilabad district after news came in that Parliament would soon clear the delimitation of Assembly segments and Lok Sabha constituencies and implementation of women's reservations. Some politicos, fearful that the seats they were warming would be kept aside for women, began bringing womenfolk in their families to the fore. In the process causing not a little bit of brain freeze. A senior Congress leader who lost the last time around announced that his wife would contest the next polls if the legislation came through. Women leaders themselves have become active, the first step to staking claim when the polls come around, one of them making her presence felt in a few local programmes. The BRS on the other hand is inviting rivals to its ranks in constituencies where it has no strong leadership. This has left incumbent leaders fearing that they would be turned out in the cold.

SIRcasm hits voter count after new measures

The many changes to the outlines of the special intensive revision (SIR) of the electoral roll have sparked a wordplay series on the much-publicised and controversial exercise. Expected to remove lakhs of voters from the electoral list, and with allegations of mala fide in doing so, the poll panel has issued a series of updates on how the SIR exercise is to be carried out. To be sure, the amendments, including how excluded voters could get back on the last, and caps on deletion applications, were preceded by news exposes, protests and observations by the apex court. Sparking comments that, given the ‘SIRcumstances’, there was a general ‘SIRender’ to the Opposition by the SIRcumspect powers-that-be, that came as quite a ‘SIRprise’.

Sending simians away, with a parting gift

It was monkey business. And it was not. With Jadcherla being overrun by the simians, and the locals going ape over it, local legislator J. Anirudh Reddy stepped in to help. This he did by hiring professional monkey catchers from Andhra Pradesh to catch the monkeys and carting them away to the forests. On the very first day, the team reportedly caught 350 of them, and placed them in cages. Anirudh turned up at the spot doubtlessly to hear the applause. But the legislator had a change of heart when the saw the sight, He immediately arranged for a farewell gift of bananas and drinking water for the monkeys before they were sent into the relative safety of the forests. He only ensured that the monkeys were treated kindly, that he did not want their “curses”, Anirudh said. For the monkeys, it was clearly a case of velvet glove, iron fist.


With contributions from L. Venkat Ram Reddy, Raghu Paithari, Neeraj Kumar, Pillalamarri Srinivas, Md Nizamuddin

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