NETA NATTER | Anitha’s Umbrella Poke At Pawan

Rain or shine, there is nothing quite like a handy umbrella. But that simple solution of an instant and temporary protective canopy can come in handy as a tool in politics. Just ask AP’s Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan and home minister Vangalapudi Anitha. Despite the alliance between Pawan’s Jana Sena and the Telugu Desam to which Anitha belongs, a good opportunity to take a poke was apparently too tempting for the home minister. At a recent pre-release event of Pawan’s latest movie ‘They Call Him OG’, he was seen, apparently scolding a security guard, to hold properly an umbrella that was to keep the Deputy CM dry. That caught Anitha’s eye later prompting her to say, “we never ask security guards or even our personal staff to do personal tasks like holding umbrellas for us.” And thereby hangs a tale of a rainy political day.

With Metro takeover, Revanth sets off on new track

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy's decision to spend a staggering ₹15,000 crore to take over the Hyderabad Metro Rail Project from L&T has raised eyebrows in political and corporate circles. While governments are usually seen offloading public assets to private players to raise funds for welfare and development, here is a rare case of a state reclaiming an urban transport asset from corporate hands. The move is not just financial audacity — it is strategic. After having its cake as long as it could, L&T’s reluctance to integrate its Phase-1 operations with the state’s proposed Phase-2 expansion was seen as undermining the Congress government’s push for sustainable urban transport for the fast-expanding city. Besides, there were complaints galore regarding L&T’s handling of the service, with small, overcrowded trains and dirty toilets at stations. With L&T creating a bottleneck, it was left to Revanth Reddy to save the day for the city and take the Metro connectivity in all directions of Hyderabad. With the takeover, the Chief Minister has sent a strong signal not just to L&T that was seen to be playing truant, but also to others, that when it comes to development he is willing to rewrite the rulebook. Clearly, Revanth has unmistakably stamped his political style: Bold, disruptive, and unafraid to bend convention when it comes to public good. The city can now look forward to seamless Metro connectivity across the Old City, the New City and the Future City, something that could not be done given L&T stand.

Spotted: Babu who can steer govt earnings

Has the state government finally found a suitable boy in M. Raghunandan Rao to head the most crucial revenue earning wing? The government has been experimenting with several officers as commissioner, commercial taxes and Raghunandan is fourth within two years of Congress rule to don the mantle. First it was T.K. Sridevi who had to vacate the post after she jumped the gun over alleged irregularities committed during the previous BRS regime. Her decision to file cases against former chief secretary Somesh Kumar and others with wrong presumptions and without the top brass’ knowledge didn’t go down well with the government. Then came Ahmed Rizvi, an effective and straightforward officer but the stop gap arrangement has to be ended because of his workload as principal secretary to the overall revenue (taxes) department. K. Haritha, who held the post before Raghunandan, too had a very short stint with the state picking Raghunandan, who retired two years ago but continues in service on merit basis.

Anand as special CS comes as a surprise

Senior cop B. Shivadhar Reddy’s appointment as DGP (head of police force) came as no surprise with enough hints being dropped in the corridors of power for some time now on his elevation, given his track record. Shivadhar Reddy, who was sidelined by the previous BRS government, was picked as chief of intelligence by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy very early on, and now his elevation as the DGP is said to be a reflection of Shivadhar Reddy’s abilities and experience as a police officer of long standing, including a long stint in the intelligence wings as well as with the anti-Maoist Greyhounds. News of V.C. Sajjannar’s appointment as city top cop was doing rounds as Hyderabad kotwal C.V. Anand, senior to Shivadhar Reddy, would not have wanted to report to the DGP. Though it was expected that he might take over Vigilance and Enforcement, which reports directly to the government, Anand’s appointment as special chief secretary, home, came as a surprise to many. Sources close to the Chief Minister, however, said that Anand who has a lot of service left would get his place in due course.

Harish being slowly sent back stage?

There appears to be more than meets the eye as far as the goings on in the BRS are concerned, especially when it comes to two of its top leaders, party working president K.T. Rama Rao, and senior leader credited with trouble-shooting skills, T. Harish Rao. While Rama Rao has become the face of the party, taking the lead in BRS activities and in taking on the government, some in the know in the party say Harish Rao’s public presence is slowly being throttled. While both these leaders laugh such whispers away, insiders say that despite the apparent public bonhomie between the two, Harish Rao’s words, and actions, are being closely scrutinised by none other than K. Chandrashekar Rao, something that should give some cheer to his cousin K. Kavitha who openly accused Harish Rao of being the cause of all ills plaguing the BRS supremo’s political fortunes.

Collector Jha pays for controversies

Controversies around Rajanna Sircilla collector Sandeep Kumar Jha appear to be plumping new depths rather than settling down. Already under the scanner for protocol violations during the Praja Palana Dinotsavam celebrations where Government Whip Adi Srinivas felt slighted, Jha now faces a sharper storm. The latest charge is that the district public relations officer, allegedly at his encouragement, circulated a caricature mocking Srinivas in the official WhatsApp group of the district administration. Though Jha swiftly dismissed the DPRO in what seemed like a fire-fighting act, it has not calmed tempers in Congress circles. Party leaders in Rajanna Siricilla district have escalated the matter to Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, insisting that the collector himself masterminded the episode and demanding his removal. Earlier, Chief Secretary K. Ramakrishna Rao had already issued showcause notices to Jha over protocol breaches. With cartoons, complaints, and countermeasures in play, the collector is now turned into a former collector, having been yanked out of the district and given a new job.

Somireddy turns ‘opposition’ in AP House

Sometimes the going gets easy. It apparently can get tough too, as was witnessed in the AP Assembly the other day. With the opposition YSRC giving the session a miss, some ruling TD legislators took on the role of the opposition, as demonstrated by party Sarpavalli MLA Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy who tore into the government with gusto over thousands of acres in Krishnapatnam lying idle for nearly two decades. Reminding the government that in 2007, Reliance had bought 2,700 acres at `7.5 lakh per acre promising industries and jobs that never materialised, Somireddy reeled out stats, asking the government why the land was not taken back. It was left to minister T.G. Bharat to say that an industrial park was very much on the cards in Krishnapatnam, making this another ‘coming soon’ promise that is yet to happen.

TD offers YSRC ‘antacid’ to help digest the reality

Unable to digest the successes being racked up by the AP government? Especially the opposition YSRC legislators? Not to worry, as AP’s finance and legislative affairs minister Payyavula Keshav apparently has a quick fix to such problems. Taking objection to YSCR member Ramesh Yadav in the Legislative Council, who went hammer and tongs at the ‘Super Six’ schemes of the TD government, Keshav pointed out that the opposition member was unable to digest the fact that TD’s governance was delivering results and offered, in a quick reflex, to send Ramesh Yadav a bottle of antacid liquid to help digest the reality and put an end to reflux being experienced by the opposition members and possibly reduce the heartburn at the government’s success.

When you have arrears, don’t irk officials, MLA learns

Being an MLA is not an easy job as Lokam Naga Madhavi, Jana Sena MLA from Nellimarla, Vizianagaram district, found out recently. Her outstanding house tax dues of `24 lakh have suddenly become the talk of the town in Bhogapuram mandal after the Munjeru village sarpanch Pudi Nukaraju posted a video on social media urging the MLA to pay her dues. The video clip quickly made large rounds but, till last heard, the dues remained unpaid despite the MLA’s assurances that this would be done. The real story, according to those in the know, is that the government staff in the mandal are upset at the MLA, and her husband, accusing them of interfering in local governance and point to how two mandal parishad development officers recently quit, and the current in-charge MPDO has gone on leave. Even the tahsildar is reportedly considering resignation, and revenue staff are anxiously awaiting orders for transfers they put in requests for.

Contributions from Sampat G. Samritan, Pathri Rajasekhar, N. Vamsi Srinivas, L Venkat Ram Reddy, Balu Pulipaka, Laxmi Pranathi, Aruna.