When is “scholarly knowledge” best put to use? When that knowledge is shared with others for public good, is the accepted norm. Pushing for this, and targeting BRS president and former chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, has been Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy. While initiating a discussion on the Bhu Bharati Bill in the Assembly, Revanth fervently appealed to KCR to attend the Assembly session, present his views, and put the knowledge the latter gained from reading 80,000 or more books that KCR had claimed he had read, to good public use. However, with KCR staying away from the session, the question doing the rounds, at least in Congress circles, was why KCR was so reluctant to share the wisdom gleaned from all that reading.
PAWAN KALYAN — THE PEOPLE’S CM
Pawan Kalyan may be busy with his duties as Deputy Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh but, for his followers, he remains the centre of attention. Why not dream bigger, is the apparent belief of his fans, an aspect that came to the fore during his recent tour of tribal villages. During his speech at an event, his devoted fans and well-wishers kept shouting “CM, CM.” Pawan lost no time to point out that the real CM was N. Chandrababu Naidu, and urged his fans to respect the position he holds, that of Deputy CM. Just being in the movies doesn’t magically make things happen, he pointed out, adding that he was there to ensure that roads were laid. “Let me do my work. If you want to head to the cinemas to make stars out of people, you need roads to get there first.”
UDTA ANDHRA PRADESH!
Leave it to former Andhra Pradesh Speaker Ch. Ayyanna Patrudu to smoke out some bad weeds within his party. Recently, addressing a meeting in his constituency, Ayyanna said some of his own party members were involved in getting ganja into the state, and that they were meeting with him to get them out of cases when they were caught. Ayyanna’s outburst followed him catching some youngsters smoking ganja while on his way to his home town of Narsipatnam. Being critical of his own government is not new to Ayyanna. In 2017, as minister, he announced in public that the police had a role in ganja smuggling and heads of all departments knew the source of supply and the big shots involved in the trade.
A CASE OF EMPTY VESSELS
It’s apparently hard to shed the ephemeral cloak of power for some politicians, who continue to seek to throw non-existent weight, especially when out of power. One such incident involving former minister in Andhra Pradesh, Kakani Govardhan Reddy, has been doing the rounds with folks pointing out that he appears to have adopted the philosophy of blame-the-bucket-when-the-
VIZAG STEEL PLANT AWAITS RESOLUTION
Steely resolve apart, those fighting for protection of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, seem buffeted with hope swinging between two sides. In the latest incident of this long-standing saga, the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant Parirakshana Porata Committee met with Union steel minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on December 18, indicating optimism that all outstanding issues related to the steel plant would be resolved by Sankranti. But at the same time, MP M. Sribharat presented a contrasting perspective, expressing concerns regarding the insufficient dialogue on the subject in Parliament. He highlighted the inadequate amount of `1,650 crore allocated by Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman for the steel plant. For VSP workers, now the question is on whom to place their faith in, and what is real, and what is kite-flying by one side or the other.
ALLU BENEFICIARY STAYS MUM
Do unto others…. And this is what former Nandyal legislator and YSRC leader Silpa Ravi is being accused of not doing for actor Allu Arjun. In this case, the actor’s fans have been having a field day flaying Ravi for not commenting on Arjun’s legal troubles. Despite being the beneficiary of Arjun’s support, who visited his home in Nandyal during the elections, the visit resulting in a case against both of them for violating election rules, the actor’s fans say Arjun had to face a lot because of his support to Ravi, and now Ravi must now speak up for the actor.
FIGHT OVER AMBEDKAR CONTINUES
Claiming credit for something done right comes naturally to politicians, even if they might not be fully on the ball on a given issue. Such turned out to be the case with Andhra Pradesh BJP president and Rajamahendravaram Lok Sabha member D. Purandeswari. On the Congress’ agitation over Union home minister Amit Shah’s references to Dr B.R. Ambedkar, Purandeswari said the Congress did nothing for the framer of the Constitution, and that it was the BJP that conferred the highest civilian honour in the country, the Bharat Ratna, on Dr Ambedkar when Vajpayee was the Prime Minister. This claim left many in her party red-faced but then they justified their leader’s claim by saying the award was conferred when V.P. Singh was prime minister during the National Front government, which the BJP was supporting. Hence, the BJP can stake the claim of honouring Dr Ambedkar.
TELUGU BABUS GIVEN A MISS AT CENTRE
In an unusual trend, no IAS officers from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have been empanelled for Central-level positions in recent years, sparking unease in bureaucratic circles. This gap deprives officers from these states of the opportunity to serve in key roles at the Centre. There is a glaring underrepresentation of Telugu-origin IAS officers in senior Central positions such as secretary, additional secretary, and joint secretary ranks. Experts attribute this to a combination of factors, including reluctance by the state governments to issue no-objection certificates (NOCs) for central deputation. With a severe shortage of IAS officers to manage state-level affairs, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh appear hesitant to release their officers. If this trend persists, Telugu states risk losing their influence in the national bureaucratic landscape, a development that could have long-term implications for representation and policy advocacy at the Centre.
ALLU ADVISER TO STEER CLEAR OF No. 11
REVANTH SHOWS STRENGTH IN LIEU OF PUSHPA-GATE
It isn’t often that the position of Chief Minister is seen as one occupying the bully pulpit but the ‘Pushpa 2’ stampede incident that threw actor Allu Arjun into the kind of limelight he, or his acolytes, were not used to, saw A. Revanth Reddy showing that the pulpit can indeed be used effectively. His trenchant take on displaying a sense of responsibility, or lack thereof, by those in the movie industry, and amongst Opposition politicians, apparently hit a raw nerve. Revanth’s lashing out at Opposition leaders and the Tollywood fraternity, asking “Ye kaise insaan hai?”, and charging them with rushing to actor Allu Arjun's residence to express solidarity after his brief jail stint, but failing to visit the grieving family for over three weeks, did the trick. Soon after, actors, movie producers and politicians made a beeline to the hospital where the nine-year-old survivor is reported to be on a very slow path of recovery from the stampede injuries at Sandhya theatre. Clearly, Revanth drawing a stark contrast between support for a “mighty superstar” and the neglect of a lower-middle-class family struck a chord with the public. The handing over financial aid by the movie industry bigwigs, and the expression of support by political leaders has yet again amplified Revanth’s image as a champion of common people.
LUCKY HARISH STRIKES AGAIN
Lady Luck seems to be smiling all the time at bureaucrat S. Harish. He enjoyed the confidence of the BRS top brass and held the plum posts of joint collector and collector of Rangareddy and Medchal districts. While his league mate Amoy Kumar was running around the ED offices over allegations of dubious land deals during his stint as collector of the same districts, Harish won the trust of the new dispensation. In the run-up to the Congress government launching its one-year-in-office celebrations, Harish found himself replacing Hanumantha Rao as information and public relations commissioner, taking over the spending of `300 crore for a publicity blitzkrieg for the government if some little birdies trilling in the Secretariat corridors are anything to go by.
AP-TELANGANA DIVIDE SHOWS ITS UGLY HEAD
Nizamabad Rural Congress MLA R. Bhupathi Reddy’ְs remarks against film actor Allu Arjun, and his calling ‘Pushpa-2’ trash, as well as his questioning the actor’s contribution to Telangana society, have suddenly made the politician “popular” on social media. Dr Bhupathi Reddy is an orthopaedician and began his political career with the then TRS as one of its founder members. His remarks on Allu Arjun, terming the latter an “Andhra” person and pucca businessman, and advice that the actor would do well to hold his tongue while speaking about Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, are now being seen as him settling old statehood political scores. The MLA’s opponents are taking on Dr Bhupathi Reddy, saying he was raking up unwarranted differences between the people from AP and Telangana.
REAL ESTATE SLUMP AN UNFOUNDED FEAR?
When the time comes, even the reluctant make themselves visible. Such appears to be the case with GHMC commissioner K. Ilambarithi, who had hitherto been studiously staying away from the public eye, putting in an appearance during an informal chat with mediapersons the other day. Even officials not in town, like HMDA metropolitan commissioner Sarfaraz Ahmad, chimed in through a video conference rolling about numbers and details about building permissions and Huda approvals. The trigger was the consistent criticism from Opposition parties that the real estate sector was crumbling. The officials decided that it was time that they take the stage, of sorts, to clarify on what exactly was happening on the ground. According to them, all was good, and that fears of a real estate slump was nothing more than that, just a fear being spread by those inimical to the government of the day.Contributions from Vadrevu Srinivas, Neeraj Kumar, L. Venkat Ram Reddy, Laxmi Pranathi, Avinash P. Subramanyam, Aruna, K.M.P. Patnaik, P.V. Prasad, Nabinder Bommala, Narender Pulloor, and Mouli Mareedu
