NETA NATTER | Cong. Banks Even More On Bhatti Power

Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka is suddenly the unlikely mascot of war-room politics in Telangana. Once known for his measured speeches in the Assembly, Bhatti is earning a new title in ruling Congress circles — the war room strategist. The buzz began at Praja Bhavan, where Bhatti took charge of yet another strategy hub — this time to craft plans for the upcoming Telangana Rising Global Summit 2025, a marquee event conceptualised by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and scheduled to be held in Bharat Future City on the Hyderabad outskirts in December. Party insiders say the summit’s messaging and positioning will be “tight, data-driven and election-season ready,” in signature Bhatti style. This isn’t Bhatti’s first command post. He helmed the 2023 Assembly election war room that helped Congress return to power after a decade. More recently, he was tasked with the Jubilee Hills bypoll war room, where Congress trounced the BRS and pushed the BJP to a deposit-forfeiting finish. Have battle? We have Bhatti, appears to be the new Congress catchphrase.

The iBomma Bust: Climax, Or Just The Interval?

The arrest of iBomma mastermind Immadi Ravi has triggered ripple effects far beyond Tollywood. While filmmakers are popping metaphorical crackers in celebration, Hyderabad’s top cops appear to have stumbled into a philosophical debate on whether cybercrime can ever be defeated — or only temporarily paused. Police commissioner V.C. Sajjanar announced that Hyderabad cybercrime police cracked a major piracy network with the arrest of Ravi, naming him the prime accused in the iBomma/Bappam TV racket that allegedly ran 65+ mirror websites, leaked new Telugu releases, and diverted lakhs of viewers to betting platforms. But former commissioner and current home secretary C.V. Anand rained on the digital victory parade, arguing that piracy isn’t a movie villain that dies in the climax. “Hackers and hacking will continue… one goes, another will come, that too with more sophistication,” he posted on X, calling it “utopian” to believe arrests will end cybercrime. Anand concluded with life advice borrowed from filmmaker S.S. Rajamouli: “Nothing comes free.” Ironically true, unless you are watching movies on piracy websites.

Copter Politics Kicks Up Dust

Politics in Nalgonda district appear to whir back every now and then to an unlikely topic. Helicopters. This past Thursday, irrigation minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy and roads & buildings minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy caught everyone’s eye as they landed at the helipad in NG College Ground in Nalgonda in separate helicopters within the gap of just two hours, prompting discussions on the matter. The event where the two ministers were headed was the inauguration of a divisional office of the Food Corporation of India and the first to arrive was Venkat Reddy in a hired helicopter at 9.30 am. Two hours later, Uttam, with Union minister Pralhad Joshi, flew in in a separate helicopter, this one owned by the government, and all three took part in the inaugural of the FCI office. The choppering in of the two state ministers in separate copters renewed the buzz over differences between the two on when and who gets to use the government copter.

The Mix That Puzzled Pralhad

Union minister Pralhad Joshi the other day noticed something that politics in Nalgonda district was familiar with for a long time. During Joshi’s visit, state ministers and legislators introduced themselves to him: irrigation minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, roads and buildings minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, Bhongir MP Kunduru Raghuveer Reddy, Miryalaguda MLA Bathula Laxma Reddy and former municipal chairman Burri Srinivas Reddy, among others. This resulted in a surprised reaction from Joshi who could not stop himself from saying, “all are Reddy only.” The situation was saved by MLC Kethavath Shanker Naik, who pointed out to Joshi that he belonged to the tribal community.

Bandi Bulletins Beats BJP Buddies

Minute-to-minute updates on VIPs are nothing new but sometimes enthusiastic staffers can go overboard and such appears to be the case with constant bulletins on what and where Union minister of state for home Bandi Sanjay will be in the next few minutes. His team releasing a stream of daily countdown-style updates such as “Bandi Sanjay about to reach party office” or “Bandi Sanjay may arrive at any moment” appear to be leaving behind senior party leaders like Union minister G. Kishan Reddy behind in the updates stakes. The buzz in the BJP is that despite the blitzkrieg of updates, Sanjay prefers to keep to himself, spends more time with his staunch followers, and that the overhype may have a way of boomeranging.

KTR’s Yarn On Cotton Comes With Knots

Politicians across the spectrum seem to have mastered the art of stirring up different sections of society, hoping to harvest a bumper crop of votes. Boasting foreign degrees and high education, their ‘solutions’ often sound more suited for theatre than policymaking. Take BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao’s recent performance at Telangana’s cotton market yards — he demanded that the Centre procure all cotton from local farmers, ignoring the scientific logic behind CCI’s 12 per cent moisture cap for safe storage. While experts worry that moist cotton might spoil, the political script calls for maximising outrage and blaming rivals for every closed market and lost rupee. So, when a market yard shuttered for a holiday, KTR apparently saw a dark plot rather than a calendar date. In this drama, facts are stage props — what matters most is keeping tempers flaring and hashtags trending, making it appear that politics aren’t always about development or national interest, but keeping the crowd agitated for the next show.

Revanth’s Gentle Lesson In Language

The scene was set for a high-stakes video conference to discuss the rollout of the much-anticipated Indiramma saris. Everything was proceeding with bureaucratic precision until the Rajanna Sircilla district collector Garima Agarwal took the floor and began presenting the logistics fluently in English. Unfortunately, the primary audience, members of the self-help groups, was clearly unable to follow, and Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, noticing the collective bewilderment on the faces of the recipients, swiftly intervened, issuing a gentle but significant directive, “please speak in Telugu.” By doing so, Revanth reminded everyone that communication must be as clear and accessible as a roadside tiffin centre menu. Complicated English only serves to complicate the simple joy of receiving a new garment. The collector instantly switched to Telugu with the local language winning the day.

MLA Sanjay’s Party Waltz: Here, There, Everywhere

Jagtial MLA Dr S. Sanjay Kumar has turned his defection controversy into a political game of ‘guess the party’, leaving not just the people but also leaders from the BRS, Congress and even the BJP utterly confused about his actual allegiance. The MLA, at a meeting on Wednesday, emphatically stated he had not resigned from the BRS and had not taken Congress membership, despite openly working with Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy. Flatly denying the buzz that he had officially switched parties, the MLA clarified that Revanth hadn’t asked him to join the Congress, and that they are just working together for development of the constituency. Not stopping there, he claimed that this confusion wasn’t new, he faced the same rumours when he previously collaborated with BJP MP Aravind Dharmapuri to secure funds for the Ralla Vagu project.

Top Cop Laddha Gets His Own Back, 20 Years Later

It seems to be payback time for Andhra Pradesh ADG (Intelligence) Mahesh Chandra Laddha, who has come full circle two decades after surviving a deadly Maoist attack. Back in 2005, when he was SP of Prakasam district, Laddha and his team had a miraculous escape when Maoists detonated a claymore mine in Ongole, narrowly missing his police vehicle. The attack left a deep mark on the officer, even as the state continued its decades-long fight against Left-wing extremism. Cut to the present, and Laddha finds himself at the centre of a major anti-Maoist operation that has rattled the outlawed Maoist network. In coordinated encounters across Andhra Pradesh, 13 Maoists were neutralised, including ranking members, while another 50 cadres were rounded up over a few days. Sources say the Intelligence wing, led by Laddha, played a pivotal role in tracking the insurgent routes and planning the strikes. Colleagues see it as poetic justice for the officer who once stared death in the face. From surviving Maoist mines to masterminding the latest anti-Naxal push, Mahesh Chandra Laddha’s journey has come a long way — and this chapter seems to close an unfinished story written 20 years ago in explosives and survival.

AP Minister Takes It Out On KCR, Gets The Rap

Andhra Pradesh’s labour minister Vasamsetti Subhash is yet again embroiled in a controversy, this time for derogatory remarks against Telangana former chief minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, and some previous ministers from the BC communities in the YSRC regime. At an event organised by the Settibalija community, Subhash said those from this group should be considered BCs wherever they are located, but KCR eliminated the group from the BCs list of Telangana and did great injustice to the community. Subhash even targeted KCR on his looks. He continued in the same vein, attacking former AP ministers from the same community during the YSRC regime. Retribution was quick to come, with social media flak reminding Subhash how he was reprimanded by CM Chandrababu Naidu earlier for similar behaviour, but how he appears not to learn his lessons.

=—=-=-=-=-

In Death Of Whistle-blower, Bhumana Does Some Name-calling

Conduct certificates matter a lot and in politics they are easier to get. Following this line was the TTD former chairman and YSRC leader Bhumana Karunakar Reddy who lost no time in claiming that the death of the Tirumala Parakamani case whistleblower Y. Satish Kumar’s — after his body was found mutilated next to a railway track — was a case of suicide, and Satish Kumar took his life as he was being forced by the TD government to name YSRC leaders in the case. All this even as the police were yet to conclude how Satish Kumar lost his life. Bhumana who also demanded that the government take responsibility for the death, advised investigators not to force suspects to take names, and in the process, launched an unseemly tug-of-war over the death of the whistleblower.

Chivalry Lands Kalisetty In A Spot

Chivalry is a good trait to have. Right? Vizianagaram MP Kalisetty Appalanaidu put this into practice the other day at the 30th CII Partnership Summit in Vizag, when he saw MLA Aditi Gajapathi Raju, daughter of Ashok Gajapathi Raju, arriving late and looking for a seat. Appalanaidu rose to give his seat to her, and then tried to sit in the row behind, only to be informed by another delegate that he couldn’t sit wherever he pleased. Caught in this awkward situation, Appalanaidu stood there, unsure whether to argue or acquiesce. Fortunately, a kind individual in the crowd came to his rescue with a spare seat, saving the chivalrous MP from further embarrassment.

-=-=-=-=-=-

Speaker Sees Red At Politicians’ Chameleon Act

Andhra Pradesh Assembly Speaker Ch. Ayyannapatrudu appears to be a troubled man. Expressing anguish over the way the moral values among a section of politicians have hit rock bottom, particularly when it comes to jumping parties, he said his constitutional position was restraining him to speak out on such situations. Watching these happen, Ayyannapatrudu said at the birthday celebrations of Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation Mayor P. Srinivasa Rao in Visakhapatnam recently, that sometimes he wonders and wants to ask himself why he was in politics where politicians can easily put a chameleon changing its colours to shame.

-=-=-=-=-

MP Putta Tries Smoothen Bad Roads For MLAs

The Lok Sabha member from Eluru, Putta Mahesh Kumar, has taken a road less travelled, and in the process appears to have, in one stroke, made it easier for MLAs to travel on the bumpy road of keeping their constituents happy when it comes to bad roads. Following Chintalapudi MLA Songa Roshan Kumar of Eluru district facing criticism about the bad roads in the constituency, Putta suggested that people should not blame the MLA and that it is his (Putta’s) responsibility to get the roads into a better shape, adding that he was trying to develop the roads and their expansion. The comments may have come as a breather for the seven MLAs whose constituencies fall in Putta’s constituency but the road ahead continues to remain, well, bumpy still for them.

Vemireddy And Anam: One For All, And All For One

When rumours do the rounds, it is not easy to scotch them, especially in these days when they spread faster than a wildfire thanks to social media gossip. This was the situation that minister Anam Ramanarayana Reddy and Nellore MP Vemireddy Prabhakar Reddy found themselves in with reports doing the rounds that the duo were feuding. What set this off was that Anam and Vemireddy skipped each other’s events recently. As the rumour mill ground on, Anam finally addressed the issue declaring that the two “are one. Please stop separating us; politics already does enough of that.” Missing the events by both of them was just due to their timing and nothing more. He then sealed the deal, saying: “Without the MP, I am nothing. Without me, he is nothing.”

Contributions from L. Venkat Ram Reddy, P. Srinivas, Puli Sharath Kumar, Neeraj Kumar Saibewar, Md Ilyas, Vadrevu Srinivas, Pathri Rajasekhar, Sampat G. Samritan, Aruna, Avinash P. Subramanyam