NETA NATTER | Komatireddy Jr Keeps The Pot Broiling

Congress Munugode MLA Komatireddy Raj Gopal Reddy has once again set the political gossip mills spinning with his latest remarks aimed at Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy. The chatter in political corridors is that Komatireddy Jr’s sharp tone stems from being left out of the Cabinet expansion in June. But the man himself insists otherwise — and then promptly muddies the waters. With a straight face, he declares that a Cabinet post “doesn’t matter” to him, and that his true mission is serving the people of Munugode as their MLA. Moments later, he slips in a pointed reminder: The Congress high command had promised him a ministerial berth when he rejoined the party from the BJP before the November 2023 Assembly polls, a promise that has remained unfulfilled. The result is political theatre at its finest — a performance where the script says “I don’t care,” but the subtext screams “Yes, I do.” The man goes up before the party’s disciplinary committee on Sunday. Telangana’s Congress circles are watching closely for the next act.

No Phone Calls, Only Straight Talk

It’s not quite often that people acknowledge that a bureaucrat has hit the bullseye but Rajanna Sircilla district collector Sandeep Kumar Jha has apparently been on target on this front. And helping him get there is senior Congress leader Katakam Mrutyunjayam who has been having a go at Jha, alleging that the collector was possibly working at the behest of his political rivals and that the official must explain why he was being asked to present himself at the collectorate for questioning about his licensed firearm. Mrutyunjayam’s post on social media that attempts were being made to cancel his arms licence and the collector was unwilling to discuss it on phone, and if he has to run around, the plight of common people can only be imagined, did some quick rounds for a while. The Congress leader may have his grouse but, in the end, the general opinion doing the rounds was that the collector is just being strict and following rules and is not straying from staying on target.

Of Bottles Flung and Abuses Hurled

The season for the fur to start flying is still some ways off in the run up to the elections to the local bodies in Telangana but political tempers are already rising if the incident involving Asifabad MLA Kova Laxmi of the BRS throwing water bottles at Congress’ constituency in-charge Shyam Naik is anything to go by. With the BJP too vested fairly heavily in the district, the waters, if anything, are far from clear. The incident at the KB Asifabad district’s ration card distribution function where water bottles flew and Naik called Laxmi an illiterate, points to much more ‘action’ in the days to come. When the time comes, what remains to be seen is if the flying bottles will be a one time thing, or things will get worse with political heavyweights Vedma Bojju of Congress and Ritesh Rathod of BJP in Khanapur, Payal Shankar of BJP and Jogu Ramanna of BRS in Adilabad, former BRS MLA Koneru Konappa and Palvai Harish Babu of BJP in Sirpur (T) set to butt heads.

Maytas Man Tries To Get A Game On

Some people master the art of striding in the power corridors irrespective of the party in rule, and Bandaru Narasimha Rao aka ‘Maytas’ Narasimha Rao is one such who works through his connections in political parties and bureaucratic circles. He made his humble beginnings with the ‘Satyam’ Ramalinga Raju's infra wing Maytas, where his primary task was to liaison with the government on irrigation and other infra projects. After Maytas went bust, Narasimha Rao, by then settled well financially, leaned onto the now BJP MP C.M. Ramesh to extend his connections to the national capital, and quickly earned a reputation for extending ‘hospitality’ to senior babus of Andhra and Telangana when they want to ‘relax’ in Delhi. His attempt to pursue a political career by contesting for the Lok Sabha from the coastal town of Machilipatnam falling by the wayside, Narasimha Rao prevailed upon Jana Sena chief and AP Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan to make him the vice-president of the Andhra Cricket Association, pursuing an all-out strategy to grow with the blessings of ICC chief Jay Shah. Thus proving the once ‘Maytas’ man, if nothing, is not a giver-up when it comes to pursuing his favourite career — working the connections in political parties and bureaucratic circles.

Finder Not Keeper of Tummala’s Lost Phone

This doesn’t quite ring true, say the cops, but a woman under scrutiny after claiming to have found Telangana’s agriculture minister Tummala Nageswara Rao’s lost phone says the police are simply pressing the wrong buttons in trying to close the case. The device was lost by Tummala during his recent visit to Karimnagar with ministers Uttam Kumar Reddy, Sridhar Babu, Ponnam Prabhakar and Laxman Kumar. The phone reportedly disappeared from Tummala’s possession after the ration card distribution event in Keshavapatnam mandal. With the missing mobile likely holding even some government secrets, the cops went on an overdrive, and discovered it in Karimpet village, with a local woman. When the cops did what they do, asking questions on why she took the phone, they weren’t quite prepared for the response – on how careless should one be to lose a phone, and that she picked it up when she spotted it on the road. The hapless cops with no option but to dial out, left the place just thankful that they found the minister’s phone, and with the knowledge that she was not aware to whom it belonged to.

Bandi Dials Up A Pretty Row

Bandi Sanjay, Union minister of state for home, proved he is never one to leave a good opportunity go by. The man who made his name through some rough words and padayatras in Telangana, was at it again, marking his meeting with officials of the special investigation team (SIT) probing the phone-tapping case. Bandi, who once had said that he had no faith in the SIT, on Friday made a grand entrance before the very police he once dismissed, preceded by a 400 metre padayatra of sorts accompanied by a horde of his supporters after praying at the Khairatabad Hanuman temple. Declaring that nothing short of a CBI probe would reveal the real truth in the case, Bandi managed to make sure everyone was watching his starring role in the Telangana phone tapping drama.

In AP, Bus-ting The Male Ego

They first did the rounds in Telangana when the state government introduced the free bus rides scheme for women. With Andhra Pradesh set to follow suit with a similar programme from this August 15, political leaders are apparently finding it hard not to crack jokes at the expense of wives and husbands. The other day, Telugu Desam Gopalapuram MLA Mandapati Venkata Raju, addressing a gathering could not resist warning all husbands to treat their wives with respect failing which they will have to watch their spouses pulling the disappearing act to their maternal homes without having to spend a paisa thanks to the free bus rides scheme. While his comments produced some chuckles from the crowd, the message the MLA wanted to send went home. The scheme is here and it means freedom to travel for women.

Galla Tries To Row His Boat Back to TD

Jayadev Galla, the leader who announced he was quitting politics last year saying sailing on two boats – politics and business — wasn’t possible, has apparently decided to steer a new course and is now said to be trying to paddle his way back into the Telugu Desam. His comments to his followers during his visit the other day to the Kanikapakam Vinayaka temple in Chittoor district, that he was in talks with the TD leadership to get back into active politics, set off ripples. The former Guntur MP, who once won on a TD ticket, is reported to be exploring if he could make it to the Rajya Sabha as a TD member. But the ruling party in AP is said to be not exactly ready to roll out the welcome mat to Galla and the word is that Nara Lokesh, the heir apparent to the TD crown, is unwilling to welcome him back as Galla did not step up to defend Nara Chandrababu Naidu when he was arrested.

Pawan MLA Throws A Tantrum At Goddess’ Abode

The generally accepted principle is that everyone is equal before God. But then there are those who claim they should be the first among equals and, if required to prove their point, even throw a tantrum or two, as was demonstrated by Jana Sena MLA Sundarapu Vijayakumar at the Kanaka Durga Temple in Vijayawada for not being accorded VIP treatment. The trigger was the temple security staff stopping his vehicle and not allowing it to proceed all the way to the VIP parking area. The matter was sorted only after temple protocol officials rushed down the hill to smoothen things out. But the story did not end there, with the MLA complaining to the temple executive officer and warning that he would not take the matter lightly. Even after a special darshan was arranged for him, his displeasure did not simmer down, according to those who witnessed the incident, leaving folks debating if concessions should be made during a temple visit just because the visitor happens to be a VIP.

In The Barrage Of Names, A Missing Link

Justice P.C. Ghose commission’s 660-page report on the Kaleshwaram project has named almost everyone involved in alleged irregularities — from former chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao and ex-irrigation minister T. Harish Rao to former finance minister Etala Rajendar and a chain of engineers. But there’s one curious gap: When it came to the finance secretary’s role, the report stopped short of writing the name, mentioning only the post. This omission has fuelled speculation that the intent was to shield Chief Secretary K. Ramakrishna Rao, who was finance secretary when the mega project was cleared and funds rolled out. Yet whispers in the Secretariat corridors suggest otherwise — that it was actually N. Siva Sankar, then also in the finance department, who handled Kaleshwaram matters. If true, why wasn’t his name recorded? The commission may have closed its inquiry, but the missing name has opened a whole new chapter of intrigue in Telangana’s bureaucracy.