Neta Natter | Rajam Draws A Line On AP Paper

It’s written. If not on stone, at least on paper. Hoping it will be the latter is Jakkampudi Rajam, he former Rajanagaram MLA who had once raised his voice against AP Paper Mills. On the unattended grievances of the paper mill workers when YSRC was in power, Rajam explained that a broker pretending to be a union leader misled the ruling party then, but now, things are different. Writing a new script on the issue, Rajam issued a deadline of July 14 for the workers’ problems to be solved, failing which he threatened a hunger strike, to be led either by him or his mother Jakkampudi Vijayalakshmi. With the deadline now penciled in, the mill workers are wondering who will write the next chapter of their struggles.

Protest Of No Use In Gajapati Territory

A flexible attitude and approach to problems can be a great asset in politics and so can be a flexi, according to TD worker Teegala Ananda Rao in Vizianagaram. Targeting local MLA Pusapati Adhiti Vijayalakshmi Gajapatiraju, daughter of former MP P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Ananda Rao was filmed carrying a flexi on unsolved problems in his municipal ward despite repeated pleas to the MLA. With the video quickly doing the rounds locally, Ananda Rao is still not a very happy man. The flexi got the publicity. Now the problem of solving the problems including those relating to drains, a government hospital, street lights still remains.

Protest Of No Use In Gajapati Territory

A flexible attitude and approach to problems can be a great asset in politics and so can be a flexi, according to TD worker Teegala Ananda Rao in Vizianagaram. Targeting local MLA Pusapati Adhiti Vijayalakshmi Gajapatiraju, daughter of former MP P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Ananda Rao was filmed carrying a flexi on unsolved problems in his municipal ward despite repeated pleas to the MLA. With the video quickly doing the rounds locally, Ananda Rao is still not a very happy man. The flexi got the publicity. Now the problem of solving the problems including those relating to drains, a government hospital, street lights still remains.

YSRC Swamps Meet Meant For Farmers

In or out of power, a show of strength is the oxygen for a politician but a recent rally by Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy's visit to Bangarupalem to highlight problems of mango farmers in AP left a sour taste all around. Amidst all the sirens, slogans and sea of party workers, the farmers for whom the event was organised were pushed into the background, with thousands of YSRC workers marching to the market yard and occupying the space. 'This is a case of sour grapes at the following our leader has' is the YSRCP workers’ claims, but for the mango farmers, it was a low hanging fruit that Jagan decided to pluck for some instant publicity.

With 22 Absent, Botsa Finds Register Emptying

Botsa Satyanarayana of the YSRC and Leader of the Opposition in the AP Legislative Council is finding the going tough these days with internal strife in the party coming to the fore and his status as someone who can lead the party when out of power coming under a challenge with YSRC’s ZPTC members making it hard for him to keep his herd together. In a sign of how things are, they ignored his call for full attendance at a ZP meeting Vizag with 22 of the members not turning up following a call from Paravada ZPTC member P. Sanyasiraju for boycotting the meeting, a combined event of the standing committee and general body.

Revanth Pushes Babus To Think For Themselves

Many of Telangana’s senior and top bureaucrats - secretaries and principal secretaries - have decided to take it easy, a babudom euphemism for not doing anything until instructions land on their desks. And of course, to avoid any future blame when things go south. After waiting to see if the attitudes change, the CM has finally cracked the whip at a recent closed-door review. No words were minced and the message to the bureaucracy from Revanth Reddy was clear – use your brains, take the initiative. Governance doesn’t operate on remote control from political bosses alone. The unusually blunt remarks left babus rattled, especially those used to a more laid-back system during the previous BRS regime. Revanth is said to be pushing for a proactive, decision-driven administration, not one that waits for nods from above for every step. While the CM wants the bureaucracy to shift gears, officers are now left wondering if a memo is coming—or worse, a reshuffle.

Reckless RTC Goofs On Muharram Message

Enthusiasm sometimes gets the better of some. This was the case with the TGSRTC management recently and now there are a lot of bitten tongues at the crossing of a big no-no line. Someone got into the driver’s seat at the RTC and crossed a red light, wishing a ‘Happy’ Muharam and posting the same on the RTC’s handle on X. Retribution was swift with CM Revanth Reddy and transport minister Ponnam Prabhakar getting tagged at the utter insensitivity on part of the RTC bosses. The corporation is known for its buses being driven recklessly on the roads but this paled in comparison to the post on X.

Vamshi Praise For Naidu Gets BRS Ticking

Fanboys come in various shades and joining this tribe the other day, or rather going public, was Achampet MLA Dr Ch Vamshi Krishna who could not stop gushing his admiration for AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu. Of course, Naidu is someone with a lot of following, and deserves admiration, but Vamsi Krishna’s public display at the Srisailam dam when Naidu was to open the dam’s gates the other day, has caught some in the Congress in Telangana by surprise. The Achampet MLA who posed for pictures with Naidu at the dam, declared how much of a Babu fan he is, and how Telangana still brims with Babu fans. Personal his feelings towards the AP CM may be, but the local BRS folks are said to have watched the developments with glee, what with the local body elections round the corner in Telangana.

Mapping A Problem, BJP Style

Cartography is not everybody’s cup of tea, or not everybody’s ability to map things out. Sentiment is one thing, borders are another altogether. Finding this out the other day was AP’s new BJP chief P.V.N. Madhav who landed in some trouble on the first day after taking over the reins of the party. After a grand rally in Vijayawada to celebrate his elevation, Madhav paid a courtesy visit to education minister Nara Lokesh and presented a portrait map of India titled Glory of Indian Culture. But with Telangana nowhere visible on it, there were some murmurs, notably from BRS leader K.T. Rama Rao who sought PM Modi’s explanation whether Telangana’s omission from the map reflected BJP's political agenda. But since Pakistan, Afghanistan, Myanmar and other neighbours too being shown as part of India in the map, the BJP said it was a representation of our cultural spread, and not about political boundaries, and there the issue lies, for now.

Back To The Future: Somireddy Gets His Due

Revenge is best served cold, or hot. As in the case of Sarvepalli MLA, Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy who never forgave the then YSRCP government for a slew of cases booked against him. Somireddy has been attacking his political rival and former minister Kakani Govardhan Reddy who has been in prison in Nellore for the past 45 days. With no signs of Kakani making it out anytime soon, Somireddy the other day recalled how a number of TD workers and his followers were jailed under fake cases during the YSRC regime, declaring that those who orchestrated such outrages, are now behind the bars. In no mood to forgive, Somireddy is also apparently keeping a count of the days Kakani has been on the run and in prison. 57 days of political tourism, 45 days of jail yatra— ‘our friend completed a 100-day blockbuster’ was the latest count.

Contributions from K.M.P. Patnaik, Aruna, Prasad V.S., L. Venkat Ram Reddy, Sampat G. Samritan, Sanjay Samuel Paul, Pathri Rajasekhar, Balu Pulipaka, Avinash P. Subramanyam