Telangana Neta Natter | BRS Complaints Are Music To Revanth Ears
The comment was made in response to opposition soundscape over the government’s Future City project and other policies. Revanth indicated that the grief of Opposition leaders over losing power acts as motivation for him to continue working
Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has made striking comments regarding Opposition criticism of the government, from the bitter to the dismissive enough to fill an album. But he was on song recently, stating that hearing the “cries and wails” of his political opponents — read BRS leaders KCR, KTR and Harish Rao — was like “music” to his ears. The comment was made in response to opposition soundscape over the government’s Future City project and other policies. Revanth indicated that the grief of Opposition leaders over losing power acts as motivation for him to continue working. “You keep on crying, and I will keep on doing my work,” Revanth said. “Hearing their cries feels like watching ‘Shankarabharanam’,” Revanth said, to suggest that their frustration is, to him, a form of artistic, harmonious music. Quite catching the Opposition out of step.
Musical chairs to find the right fit for the job
A game of musical chairs, anyone? Whether they like it or not, IAS officers in Telangana might just be on their way to becoming winners in this game. In Telangana’s ever-spinning bureaucratic revolving doors, stability seems to be a luxury no IAS officer can afford. Give an IAS officer two solid years and they might actually understand the pulse of a department/district — but here, chairs move faster than files as the government tries to get the correct fix, and the right woman in the right job. With 15 reshuffles in just the last two-and-a-half years, governance resembles a non-stop game of musical chairs — minus the music, unless one counts the rustle of transfer orders. Take Dana Kishore, who’s practically been on a departmental world tour — from municipal corridors to disaster management, and now panchayat raj — barely unpacking before the next call. Or Sanjay Kumar, who keeps getting relocated like a misplaced file, now stationed in Delhi. Officers like Krishna Aditya, Anudeep Durishetty, Dasari Harichandana, and C.H. Priyanka juggle postings like frequent flyer miles. Departments like SC Gurukul Society resemble revolving doors — Naveen Nicolas, Sitalakshmi, Alugu Varshini, Vijayendra Boyina — each stepping in, stepping out. Talk of a difficult search to find the right official for the right job.
Forester’s jaunt before retirement raises hackles
Foreign jaunts are much looked forward to events, especially if the dime doesn’t have to drop from one’s pocket, or purse. It is usually senior officials who end up visiting other countries on study trips and the like, a fact of life in government offices that the lower rungs finally shrug and accept. But a few in the forest department have apparently decided enough is enough and decided to write to Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on this matter complaining that the PCCF (head of forest force) Dr C. Suvarna was setting off on one such trip, just ahead of her retirement. A couple of forest guards said this was not the done thing, after all, the field level staff are the ones that do the toughest part of work in the forests and they too deserve a shot at international junkets. Complaining that all the PCCF does is publish colourful books and catalogues of the department and inaugurate buildings, they asked the CM that at least two or three field level staffers should be sent on the upcoming trip. The PCCF has already been on one such trip last year, they complained to the CM. Whether their appeal to the CM gets taken note of, or remains a cry in the wild, is anybody’s guess.
VHR returns from the shadows
Never write a politician off. Especially the tenacious kind. Veteran Congress leader V. Hanumantha Rao who was long thought to be a spent force has proved that consistent efforts, even in the golden years, can mean a return to active service. That the senior leader, fondly referred to as VH, or VHR, his appointment as adviser to the government, with a Cabinet rank to boot, may have come as a surprise to many, given the Congress’s top leadership’s oft-repeated motto of roping in the youth at all levels. But this septuagenarian, getting a second wind, has proved to his critics wrong that even a veteran politician like him, once dismissed as “finished”, can suddenly show new vigour. But in politics, intrigue is never far from intention. That VHR is now an adviser on matters related to BCs, may not be all that it seems with folks in the Congress wondering if this move is a straightforward one, or will turn into a headache for the existing set up under BC welfare minister Ponnam Prabhakar.
Beauty of CM’s home, and the beast
The desire to be close to the boss is hard to resist for many. Some even pay a price for it but in this case, it appears to be the boss at the receiving end. Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu is building a house for himself, a home in Velagapudi. A G+1 structure with aesthetically pleasing design with open spaces, greenery gently giving way to the house itself. But temptations are hard to overcome as proved by Dr P. Narayana, minister in the Naidu Cabinet. With proximity to the CM apparently being the key for Narayana, he too has built a house for himself, just two plots down the street from Naidu’s under-construction residence. But old habits, as they say, are hard things to get rid of, and Narayana, known for his schools and colleges, replicated his apparent favourite shoebox design for his house too, all four floors in a 2,500-square yard plot sticking out like a sore thumb, casting a shadow of utter sterility to the Amaravati inspired Naidu’s residence. Narayana may run schools and colleges but clearly, he missed out some basic lessons in ensuring ambience where it matters most, his boss’s home.
Contributions from L. Venkat Ram Reddy, Balu Pulipaka, Md Nizamuddin
