Even before the former CM slipping and falling in a bathroom in the farmhouse that resulted in a broken hip requiring a surgery and a fairly long recovery, Jangaon MLA Palla Rajeshwar Reddy, a great devotee of the BRS party chief, too slipped and fell in a bathroom at KCR’s farmhouse
There is something slippery at former chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao’s farmhouse in Erravalli. And it is most likely a bathroom floor. Even before the former CM slipping and falling in a bathroom in the farmhouse that resulted in a broken hip requiring a surgery and a fairly long recovery, Jangaon MLA Palla Rajeshwar Reddy, a great devotee of the BRS party chief, too slipped and fell in a bathroom at KCR’s farmhouse. Rajeshwar was part of a support team for KCR as the latter prepared to face the P.C. Ghose commission on Kaleshwaram. Rajeshwar was to accompany KCR to the hearing but could not as he slipped and fell in the bathroom injuring himself and had to be rushed to a hospital in Secunderabad, incidentally the same where KCR received treatment for his broken hip.
Cleansing time for IAS officer Varsini
‘Holistic education’ can mean many things but for IAS officer Alugu Varsini it apparently means that students who are not from “posh families” deserve to wash and clean their school toilets. Varsini did not say anything about what students from “posh families” need to do about toilets in the schools they go to. Varsini’s recent mandate that students in hostels for SC community must clean toilets in their schools and hostels because they aren’t “from posh families”, not surprisingly, exploded like a stink bomb. But, in a totally flush-worthy PR mission, her department put out a video, shot on Day 1 of the academic year on Thursday, featuring two students standing amid other classmates and declaring that there were enough sanitation staff and rumours of students scrubbing toilets are, well, not true. Meanwhile, Varsini’s original directives to the students from “non-posh” families to clean toilets has been taken note of by the SC Commission, even as the Opposition called the remark casteist, leaving Varsini and her team busy cleaning up more than just “loos’e talk”.
When Kavitha got a cold shoulder from KCR
‘There are no murders, only suicides, or so the saying goes about politics. Things may not have reached this point, yet it is increasingly clear that after raising a banner of revolt against party leadership, with no guesses as to who the target was, BRS MLC K. Kavitha appears to have found herself in self-inflicted isolation. With her letter to her father K. Chandrashekar Rao and the subsequent complaints on how she was being sidelined in the party, Kavitha’s apparent attempt to mend fences with KCR wasn’t all that a success on Wednesday when she went to his farmhouse in Erravalli. As he prepared to leave for Justice P.C. Ghose commission hearing, she apparently got a cold shoulder of sorts from KCR, making it clear that any umbrage at the party is a strict no-no and the consequences will include being ignored.
District registrars fail to list ‘their’ property
Telangana’s stamps & registrations secretary Jyoti Buddha Prakash delivered a no-nonsense reality check to a room full of silent district registrars this past week. At a meeting to discuss proposals on revising land market values, when asked to name municipalities and gram panchayats under their jurisdiction, most registrars fumbled, turning the exercise into a collective of blank stares. Probing deeper, Prakash asked which sub-registrar offices saw the most and least property registrations leading to another awkward silence. Visibly upset, Prakash didn’t hold back: “You fight tooth and nail, lobby for these posts, but don’t even know your basic responsibilities.” Interestingly, most of the clueless officials hailed from Hyderabad and surrounding districts — areas notorious for property price spikes and political manoeuvring. With whispers of ministerial recommendations securing plush posts, Prakash's jibe hit home: Positions might be won through influence, but competence can’t be outsourced.
Leader drags himself into liquor scam
The finger of suspicion making its rounds in the liquor scam case in Andhra Pradesh has many on tenterhooks but none more than YSRC leader Chevireddy Bhaskar Reddy who has been at pains to point out his innocence and claim that he had no role in the multi-crore liquor scam. Though he has been making this point to anyone willing to listen, the key to the plot is that he has not been served any notice, no agency has questioned him, and there has been no official word linking him to the case so far. His protestations of innocence have left many wondering the need for him to do so, unless this was some preemptive strike strategy.
Ramakrishna’s plainspeak: No AI generated reports, please
Chief Secretary K. Ramakrishna Rao the other day gave a serious message to top IAS officers bereft of the usual government talk. Principal secretaries, secretaries and department heads were told he meant business. And the goal? Help Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy’s big dream – making Telangana a $1 trillion economy in 10 years and $3 trillion by 2047, as part of his ‘Telangana Rising 2047’ vision — a reality. To get there, the CS wanted monthly progress reports from all departments. But then came the twist — no AI tools allowed to write these reports. “AI might make work smarter,” but AI-generated reports could miss the real picture and may not match Telangana’s unique needs and plans. In short, do your own thinking, and don’t outsource your brains to machines, was his message. With the CM planning to hold Cabinet meetings every two weeks, the Chief Secretary has also suggested monthly meetings with secretaries and heads of departments to review how everyone is doing. The message is clear: it’s time for Telangana’s babus to roll up their sleeves — and maybe keep the robots out of the office for now.
The gentle side of the ‘giant killer’
The ‘giant killer’ tag comes with its own price, and if it happens to be an MLA with the moniker, then with a lot of daily crowd with many hopes. For Kamareddy’s BJP MLA Katipally Venkataramana Reddy, who defeated K. Chandrashekar Rao and A. Revanth Reddy in the 2023 Assembly elections, the reputation, in addition to his MLA status, brings many to his doorstep. And to keep a good and close eye on them, Venkataramana Reddy installed 12 CCTV cameras in his camp office, and keeps an eagle eye on the screen to ensure a first-come-first-served principle is followed. No calling cards, or other statuses work, and folks have to wait patiently till they are called in by the MLA himself. The common folk appear quite content with this process.
MPLADs funds for air conditioners is not a cool idea
Golla Babu Rao, the YSRC Rajya Sabha MP from Andhra Pradesh, apparently believed he had a cool idea and made it public. The plan, he said, is to use part of his MP Local Area Development Scheme funds to buy two big air conditioners for the party office. This, of course, was promptly greeted with happiness from his party leaders including some former MLAs, and MLCs, the then city mayor. The consensus was that part of the `5 crore in MPLADS funds will be put to good use to keep the party folk comfortable, and Babu Rao was the start of the meeting where he made his announcement. But this led to some temperature rise in the TD with the ruling party leaders, hot under the collar on using MPLADS funds meant for constituency infrastructure and welfare projects being used for a political party office, making their objections clear to the proposal, leaving several YSRC folks wondering if the cool idea just evaporated.
What’s in a name? A fund-raiser in Pawan
Sometimes, all it takes is the right name. Just ask the good folk from Konidela, a small remote village in Nandyal district. AP Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan whose family name happens to be that of the name of this particular village, recently made a generous Rs 50 lakh donation from his personal funds for the development of the village. The existence of the village came as a surprising bit of news for Pawan who was informed of it at an official programme in Kurnool district. When Nandikotkur MLA Gittha Jaya Surya said the village lacked even basic amenities, Pawan immediately offered a cheque for `50 lakh to the Nandyal district administration to be spent on the village, along with the promise of further support leaving all the Konidelites happy.
Contributions from Puli Sharat Kumar, Avinash P. Subramanyam, Narender Pulloor, Aruna, Neeraj Kumar, Rachel Dammala, Sampat G. Samritan, Balu Pulipaka
