Neta Natter | Firebrands Unite To Heat Up BJP

The outspoken senior BJP MLA T Raja Singh is no stranger to controversies. After all, he does not hesitate to speak his mind, sometimes putting the party in a fix. Over a period of time, Raja Singh has almost become a hot potato within the Telangana BJP, and is barely seen at party events. It is no secret within the BJP that Raja Singh is unhappy at being ignored and not being given a position of prominence in the BJP legislature party. His comments, that some within the BJP maintain close ties with the Telangana CM and ministers, have also not sat well within the party leadership. Shunned he may be by many in the BJP, but Raja Singh has seemingly found a friend in Union minister of state Bandi Sanjay Kumar, also someone who never hesitates to wear his heart on his sleeve. Bandi had previously described Raja Singh as a true ‘Hindutva leader’ and ‘sincere party worker’, and the beleaguered MLA has now found some open support with Bandi’s media relations folks sharing Raja Singh’s statements to the rest of the world, leaving many wondering if new relationships are being forged within the Telangana BJP.

Babu gets a jab for title tattle

A WhatsApp message sent by the office of Telangana's newly-appointed Director General of Drugs Control Administration (DCA), Shahnawaz Qasim, has gone viral, triggering waves of online sarcasm. The message, which surfaced across media groups, politely yet firmly requests journalists to include the suffix ‘IPS’ after Qasim's name in all news reports. The message, penned by his office, reads: “I kindly request you to ensure that the letters ‘IPS’ are mandatorily indicated after the name as follows: Sri. Shahnawaz Qasim, IPS, Director General, Drugs Control Administration, Telangana." The use of both "kindly request (as against ‘request you to kindly’)" and "mandatorily" in the same sentence left many scratching their heads. Netizens quickly seized the opportunity with many quipping, “Glad he didn’t ask us to address him as ‘His Excellency’.” Media organisations, typically free from addressing officials by honorifics or qualifications like "Sri", "IAS", or “IPS,” found themselves the subject of a viral internet storm. The message has since become the subject of playful mockery and widespread commentary.

Revanth aces the game of moving men

Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has pulled off an unexpected twist in the saga of chief public relations officer Boreddy Ayodhya Reddy. Instead of a routine shunting, Revanth lobbed Boreddy’s name to Governor Jishnu Dev Varma for appointment as information commissioner. But the Governor sat on the file for nearly a month. Whispers in the Secretariat suggest the delay blocked Revanth from officially removing Boreddy from the CMO. Cue the CM’s sudden visit to Raj Bhavan, where he personally nudged the Governor for clearance. Mission accomplished — Boreddy’s appointment got the nod. But Revanth didn’t stop there. He also secured approval for four information commissioners, all handpicked by him. Curiously, the Governor okayed only Revanth’s picks from the original list of seven, while a nominee each of Deputy CM Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and ministers N. Uttam Kumar Reddy and Damodar Rajanarsimha were iced out. The political takeaway? Revanth didn’t just reshuffle roles, he reshuffled power. And Telangana’s chessboard now has a new grandmaster at play.

The loneliness of being Kavitha

It’s hard to catch a break at times. No matter what one does. Such appears to be the case with BRS MLC K Kavitha, who seems to be ploughing a lonely furrow in the party. With speculation never far away on a leadership struggle between her, and her brother K.T. Rama Rao, and cousin T. Harish Rao on who might be the heir apparent to KCR, Kavitha’s lament the other day that there was a malicious campaign against her despite her hard work for the party, and that she hopes the party will stand by her, has so far been met with a studied silence. None in the BRS rose to defend her, leaving many wondering what was up, especially given the fact that party leaders rushed to the police and lodged a complaint seeking investigation into reports published in some media outlets about Harish making alleged moves to grab a top spot in the party. What the apparent lack of support for Kavitha means is anybody’s guess, if some in the party are to be believed.

Belling the bill: The Nalgonda battle

Officials getting caught in the political cross-fire is not uncommon, and one such case of ‘damned if you do and damned if you don’t’ emerged in Nalgonda with district collector Ila Thripati finding herself in the middle of a tug-of-war between Legislative Council Chairman Gutha Sukender Reddy, and roads and buildings minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy. Tripathi’s troubles centred around Rs 3.5 crore for MNREGA works in Nalgonda, Nakrekal, Miryalaguda and Nagarjunasagar Assembly constituencies, but, apparently, the sanction for the works was cancelled after Venkat Reddy’s intervention. A miffed Sukender Reddy had the Legislature Secretary seek an explanation from Tripathi, during which it emerged that the works were cancelled following instructions from the roads minister. Following this, fresh orders were issued by the collector approving the cancelled works. The buzz doing the rounds in official circles is that Tripathi is not the first to get caught in political battles. Former district collector Harichandana Deepthi was ostensibly transferred for holding on to bills for works sanctioned when the now irrigation minister Uttam Kumar Reddy was the Lok Sabha member from the district. Incidentally, Deepthi was posted as special secretary to roads and buildings department upon her transfer.

‘Rebel Raju‘ revenge ends with a cake

Once bitten, never forgotten. That appears to be the case with AP Assembly Deputy Speaker K. Raghu Rama Krishna Raju who called on his supporters to observe May 14, in his Undi constituency in West Godavari district, as a day of revenge. It was on this day, in 2021, that he was booked on charges of sedition on allegations of stirring up communal tension and targeting bigwigs in the previous YSRC regime. Raju was arrested by the CID and allegedly subjected to third degree treatment and finally, with the intervention of the Supreme Court, released from jail. Now Raju, a TD MLA and Deputy Speaker, is unhappy with the present dispensation and gave that call. But when May 14 – also his birthday — came, all was calm, and there was no talk of any revenge. Instead, there was a birthday cake cutting event and all bad blood appeared to be drained out. Or, was it? Word doing the rounds is that Raju was ‘advised’ by party leadership to calm down and, instead of spending his birthday in bitterness, turn the day into a sweeter celebration. Which explained the cake-cutting, if what some of his followers are saying is anything to go by.

Eluru kids get a surprise wake-up call

A simple act of help can go a long way and even earn the person a good name. The Eluru district collector K. Vetri Selvi is back in the news with her hands-on approach to sorting things out. Following a decision to conduct special classes for students of Class X who failed in the final exams and help them prepare for the supplementary exams, Selvi the other day went to a government school holding such classes only to find that of the 51 who were supposed to be there, only 17 were present. So, she got on the phone, called the parents whose kids were missing the classes and got assurances that they will henceforth attend the remedial classes. For the teachers it was a lesson learnt, and for students, a much-needed prod on not giving up after a setback.

Bus Men Find New Potholes All The Time

Applying brakes on a potential strike that can throw public transport out of gear is never an easy task but a good plausible cause for staving off such action can never be underestimated. Telangana transport minister Ponnam Prabhakar who has his heart in the right place according to even the RTC unions that warned they will strike work and bring to halt all bus services, found themselves in a piquant situation. When their strike date closed in, so did the war clouds over the country, After this passed, the unions got in touch with the minister again, only to be told that the Miss World contest is on right now and this would not be a proper time for any precipitate action, especially since the government is sincere about attending to the workers’ concerns. This has now left the unions scratching their heads, and looking out for what might be next in the calendar that might put them again on the backfoot.

Have The Time, Will Be A Guest

Former Union minister S. Venugopala Chary is a busy man these days. With many of fellow Congress leaders occupied with their own schedules and becoming sort of inaccessible for people, Chary appears to have found his niche, and is being seen at almost all party programmes and activities. Having straddled political parties from the TD to the BRS and now in Congress, the ‘Peddanna’ of politics in Adilabad is now a sought after presence at various events. Suddenly, the man many have forgotten is being seen as the source for many to learn a thing or two about being in politics in the district.

Contributions from L. Venkat Ram Reddy, P. Srinivas, Sampat G. Samritan, Vadrevu Srinivas, Neeraj Kumar, Sanjay Samuel Paul, Pillalamarri Srinivas