Neta Natter | Revanth Offers CM's Chair to KTR, Harish

Politics can be like musical chairs. Who sits in a given chair, is not up to the politicians but up to the people. But politics can also be, well, politics, as a demonstration by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy in the Assembly showed with him making an offer no one saw coming — his chair. In a playful swipe at BRS’ K.T. Rama Rao and T. Harish Rao, Revanth suggested their unease stemmed from treating the CM’s seat like a family heirloom, one they assumed would pass on after K. Chandrashekar Rao. Since that didn't quite happen, Revanth offered a workaround. “If the chair matters that much, you can sit in it every day — not just when the House is in session,” he said, drawing chuckles. Then came the twist: During proceedings, the “dual-seater CM’s chair”, he noted, is spacious enough to share. No objections, he added, if they wished to join him, and then upped the ante: During proceedings, “Bring your constituency files, sit beside me, and let’s talk.” In that way, BRS leaders can fulfil their desire of occupying the CM's chair, even when the House is in session. As laughter rippled through the House, one question lingered — was this political sarcasm, or an exposed BRS leader's “autocratic” mindset?

Jeevan future hangs in balance, for now

When is enough enough? Maybe now. At least for senior Congress leader T. Jeevan Reddy that appears to be the case with word doing the rounds that he has had enough of the Congress. That things have not been quite hunky-dory between the two is no secret, and all the talk surrounding his impending exit from Congress has political circles buzzing with anticipation on his next moves. The Congress leadership along with AICC state in-charge Meenakshi Natarajan is said to be in parleys to dissuade him from leaving while the BRS and the BJP in their own ways, have indicated that he would be welcome to join them. With a long history as an MLA, MLC in the Telugu Desam and the Congress, Jeevan Reddy has not been happy with his party leadership ever since it welcomed BRS MLA from Jagtial — a one-time Jeevan Reddy stronghold —Sanjay Kumar, into its fold, at least unofficially. And there the tale of a senior Congress leader hangs, for now.

Kavitha's Party Launch Hits Deadline Hurdle

The best laid plans have a way of their own as Telangana Jagruthi president K. Kavitha has discovered. Kavitha who wants to launch a political party — Telangana Praja Jagruthi — and sought to register it with the Election Commission, has hit an unexpected, or an expected hurdle depending on whose point of view it is. The EC has been taking its time in processing the application and Kavitha, making plans for the party’s launch after Sri Rama Navami festival later this month, has sought judicial intervention to push the EC along to complete the process. But the Delhi High Court, which was sympathetic to her plea, however, did not set a deadline to the ECI on the registration of the new party and if things don’t move at the pace hoped for by Kavitha, then the latest and the newest party to enter Telangana politics may have to wait a little bit more before unfurling its flag in the state.

Danam's Friendly Fire on Musi Recoils on the BRS

Unquiet flows the Musi. The river, at the centre of not just Hyderabad city but also in the middle of a raging battle between the Congress and opposition parties, is never too far away from politics. Such was the case in the Assembly as Khairatabad MLA, Danam Nagender who pointed out that floods in Musi washed away `40 crore worth of development along the river, and urged the Congress government to do a better job on Musi. Danam, who is technically a BRS MLA but aligned with the Congress, sat some distance away from the BRS benches as he made his plea. The BRS MLA in “disguise” may have started some friendly fire at his party government from the past, but this was enough to give legislative affairs minister D. Sridhar Babu to go guns blazing at the BRS on the Musi river issue resulting in some drama in the Assembly.

When Komatireddy felt left out from PCC panel

The general perception of politicians being thick-skinned may not hold good at all times as one never knows what kind of a prick, big or small, might set one off to set a cat loose among the pigeons. Take the instance of minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy who dropped this on the Congress — make former Sangareddy MLA T. Jagga Reddy as the new state Congress chief. The trigger for Komatireddy’s “suggestion” was apparently him being left out of a PCC coordination committee announced by the party’s high command. The neglect-me-at-your-own-peril signal was clear as Komatireddy went on to describe Jagga Reddy as an exceptional “mass leader”, with all the qualities to head the PCC. This came as Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and the party is grappling with the younger Komatireddy — Rajgopal Reddy — and his demand to be made a minister, but things sort of cooled down a bit after Venkat Reddy said his comments were not directed against the current PCC president B. Mahesh Kumar Goud.

Brahmin quip forces MLA Samuel to apologise

Learning lessons can be a tough job. But for politicians like Thungathurthy MLA Mandula Samuel whose intemperate comments on chanting of Vedamantras by Brahmins exposed ignorance, and more particularly, his likely hidden animosity towards one section of the society if taken as a worst case scenario, or in a slightly better case scenario, he was just playing to his own gallery of supporters. Either ways, the power of being an MLA may have gotten to Samuel but as Brahmin community erupted in anger, he was quick to issue an apology that was not quite one using the time-honoured tradition of political walk backs — that of saying “if my words hurt anyone’s sentiments, or feelings, then I apologise”. Stirring a religion pot is never a good idea and it remains to be seen if the Thungathurty MLA has learnt his lesson.

HEADMASTER NAIDU SCHOOLS TD MLAs

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu seems to have taken on an additional portfolio — that of a strict headmaster trying to discipline an unruly classroom full of Telugu Desam MLAs who appear to be playing truant despite repeated warnings. In an unusually candid admission, the TDP supremo revealed that nearly 40 legislators had gone off track prompting him to summon them individually for what insiders describe as anything but friendly chats where the law was laid down with a good dose of party diktats and governance priorities. But truants are usually hard nuts to crack and the results, apparently, have not been very encouraging. While around 15 MLAs seem to have taken the hint and fallen in line, a stubborn batch of about 25 continues to test the leadership’s patience, treating the warnings as mild advice rather than firm orders. What has now set tongues wagging is Naidu’s indication of impending strict action, with around five particularly defiant legislators reportedly under the scanner. Whether a looming crackdown will enforce discipline or trigger fresh murmurs of dissent remains to be seen despite the stern message — obedience is non-negotiable.

TRBALWOMAN RECALLS JAGAN, YSR SOPS AT SHARMILA’S MEET

Life can be full of surprises as AP Congress president Y.S. Sharmila discovered the other day. Speaking at a ‘Upadhi Hami Bachao Sangram’ led by Sharmila at Dangabadra village of Komarada mandal in Parvathipuram Manyam district, a tribal woman named Himarika Nukamma surprised the Congress leader by praising former chief minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy by saying that it was under Jagan the village got roads and drinking water taps and that all basic problems were solved instantly during the Gadapa Gadapaku Mana Prabhutvam programme led by Jagan when he was the chief minister. A surprised Sharmila watched as another Congress leader tried to lessen the impact of the woman’s comments stating a lot was done under Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy government too, but at Dangabadra, there appeared to be few takers for this claim.

NAIDU INVOKES SACRIFICES TO PEP UP FARMERS FOR LAND POOLING

Invoking sacrifices of others from the past to reach a present goal is a common political tactic and it appeared to be no different when Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu invoked Amarajeevi Potti Sriramulu as he unveiled a 58-foot-tall statue of Sriramulu in Amaravati, the AP up and coming capital city. The new city would not have been possible but for the 29,000 farmers who gave up their 33,000 acres of land for developing Amaravati by drawing inspiration from Sriramulu’ sacrifice that led to the creation of AP, Naidu recalled, even as he added that the sacrifices of the farmers too would be recorded in the history of Amaravati.

KONETI MISSING IN ACTION WHEN AT MEET ON SATYAVEDU

The Satyavedu Assembly constituency has an MLA on record, but not in existence for all practical purposes after Koneti Adimulam was suspended from the Telugu Desam following complaints from a woman party leader of harassment by the MLA. Adimulam who switched from YSRC to TD just before the 2024 elections, may have expected better political tidings but for now, he is nowhere to be seen. Though the complaint against him was later withdrawn, the TD appears to be in no hurry in recalling its suspension and restoring his position, and these days, Adimulam has been replaced by TD constituency in-charge K. Shankar Reddy who has been attending official meetings and handling party affairs. The MLA’s position became even more clear at a recent review meeting chaired by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu where Satyavedu affairs were reviewed, plans were discussed, and Shankar Reddy along with officials were present, but all this happened without the MLA being present.

IT TAKES SOMIREDDY, KOTAMREDDY TO TANGO

In a political culture where MLAs guard their constituencies like personal kingdoms — complete with invisible borders that cannot be crossed by other MLAs, or even MPs and at times ministers — Nellore appears to have just bucked the trend. Breaking the age-old tradition of invisible borders, Sarvepalli MLA Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy invited Nellore Rural MLA Kotamreddy Sridhar Reddy into his territory for an event, an act that was promptly reciprocated by Kotamreddy who had Somireddy inaugurate some development works in Nellore Rural constituency. There was also some public mutual admiration with Somireddy hailing Kotamreddy as a “speed machine” of development, while Kotamreddy returned the favour praising Somireddy as a selfless leader who did not shy away from ridding himself of family assets and clearly prioritising public service over real estate. Apparently, it takes two to tango and Somireddy and Kotamreddy may be on to something here.

KSHEERA ABHISHEKAM FOR EG COLLECTOR

People “bathing” a picture of a banner with an image of a politician, or even a movie star, splashed on it are commonplace as the practice of ‘Ksheera Abhishekam’ has firmly taken roots. But in an uncommon event, Kirthi Chekuri, the collector of East Godavari district received just such an honour in Pathatungapadu village in Rajanagaram mandal where people decided that the officer deserved such an honour. The residents of the village were facing a major problem as high tension wires were passing over their households and repeated pleas to successive collectors met with no response, but following Kirthi’s intervention in the matter, the problem was addressed and the greatly relieved villagers performed the abhishekam pouring milk over flexi with her picture on it invoking the blessings of God on the collector.

Contributions from L. Venkat Ram Reddy, Balu Pulipaka, Narender Pulloor, Neeraj Kumar, Md. Nizamuddin, P Srinivas, Md Ilyas and K.M.P. Patnaik, Aruna, Sampat G Samritan, Avinash P Subramanyam, Rajasekhar Pathri and Vadrevu Srinivas