In the quirky world of Telugu politics, a peculiar 'sentiment' has gained traction: Spend time in jail, and you might just land the Chief Minister's chair. With Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and A. Revanth Reddy famously ascending to power post-incarceration, the theory has sparked more gossip than a Tollywood blockbuster. Now, tongues are wagging that BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao might be eyeing this unconventional route to Telangana's top job. KTR's repeated fiery challenges to CM Revanth Reddy — daring him to "show some guts" and throw him in jail — have only added fuel to the rumour mill. "Send me to jail if you dare," KTR has been heard saying, leaving political observers wondering if he's more eager to pack a jail bag than win an election for his party the next time round. But Revanth, never one to miss a punchline, has a sharp retort ready. "Even if KTR goes to jail, he won't become CM," Revanth quipped. Why? Because KTR's sister, Kalvakuntla Kavitha, has already "beaten him to it," spending five months in Tihar Jail in the Delhi liquor scam case. By this logic, Kavitha holds a better shot at the CM crown — jailbird seniority, perhaps? The bizarre rivalry has turned into a comedy of political errors, with Revanth taking every opportunity to dismiss KTR's ambitions. "Just going to jail isn't enough, my friend. You need the people's vote too," Revanth jibed recently, delivering a masterclass in political shade.
COMEDY OF ERRORS ON VIZAG ROADS
Do bikes dream of growing into a car? Sure, why not, appears to be the attitude of the Visakhapatnam traffic police who recently issued a challan to a car owner in Bobbili in Vizianagaram district for not wearing a helmet while driving. The shell-shocked car owner, a woman, repeatedly explained, in vain, to the police that her car was parked at her home at the time of the so-called offence. Fed up with the notices to pay the fine, the car owner checked the challan carefully and found that the vehicle number was wrongly printed. The challan was for a vehicle with registration number of 8417, that of a motorcycle owner in Visakhapatnam, while the car's registration number was 8471. The cops apologised to the car owner, and then sent a fresh notice to the bike owner. No word yet if that fine has been paid.
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TEST FOR POST CAUSES RIFT
Politicians face testing times constantly, that is a given for their line of work. But those vying for the position of the chairpersons of the agriculture market committees in Jukkal Assembly constituency in Kamareddy district, had to take a test. For real. This was the idea of Congress MLA Thota Laxmikantha Rao, who set up a six-member committee to conduct a written test for appointment of Madnoor market committee chairperson's post. Congress activist Ailawar Soujanya secured highest marks in the test and was appointed as market committee chairperson. This new approach has won Rao some admirers within the rank and file of the party including minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy. But since nothing is politics is in black and white, dissident Congress leaders staged a protest against the Jukkal MLA at Gandhi Bhavan in Hyderabad the other day. The dissident group also poured out complaints against MLA for ignoring senior cadres and encouraging newcomers into the ruling party.
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WRONGFUL RAID WITH NO ONE TO BLAME?
Making mountains out of molehills may come easy to some, but sometimes, the mountain ends up being a huge problem. That is apparently the fix that officials of the civil supplies department find themselves in Kakinada. The story goes thus: Kakinada collector Sagili Shan Mohan received information that PDS rice was being exported from the anchorage port and was being done so without the requisite permissions. This resulted in an immediate inspection-cum-raid with the civil supplies officials and technical staff, following which 640 tonnes of rice, believed to be meant for the PDS system, was seized. In the end it turned out that the exporter revealed that this was not the case, and that bank guarantees were in place and everything about the rice was legit, and that is when the rice was loaded onto the ship. Officials are now scratching their heads to figure a way out about the 'seizure', if one goes by the whispers doing the rounds in government circles.
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A DRINK A DAY CAN STIR CONTROVERSY
A small drink a day may not keep the doctor away but it surely can attract the attention of the opposition party looking for ammunition. Such is the case after TD MLC B.T. Naidu's recent comments during the oath-taking ceremony of Somisetty Venkateswarlu as chairman of the Kurnool Urban Development Authority. In all apparent innocence, as part of his praise of Venkateswarulu, Naidu let it slip that among Venkateswarlu's good qualities were sticking to having just one 'small, negligible quantity' of alcohol daily at 8.30 pm, and calling it a sign of 'discipline'. While the remarks drew some laughter from the gathering, this attracted the attention of opposition YSRC leaders who were quick to start poking Venkateswarlu's 'discipline' with posts on social media platforms mocking the TD's choice to head KUDA.
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BIHAR MP TURNS DOWN GOLD GIFT
Never look a gift horse in its mouth, or so the saying goes. But when it comes to nice little expensive gifts, there are few and far between who say no. One among them turned out to be the CPI(ML) MP Sudhama Prasad from Bihar, who the other day turned down small gold and silver gifts presented to members of the parliamentary standing committee on railways during a tour of Bengaluru, Tirupati and Hyderabad, led by committee chairman C.M. Ramesh. Word doing the rounds is that Prasad criticised the gifts received by members, calling it profligacy, and sent the gift pack back expressing concern that such practices discourage transparency, especially relating to corruption. Prasad is also learnt to have written to Ramesh urging an end to the misuse of public funds and questioning the need for luxurious accommodations for committee meetings.
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BLUE EYED BABU ATTRACTS IRE
In the corridors of Telangana’s bureaucracy, where decorum and discretion usually reign supreme, a retired IAS officer turned government adviser, K.S. Sreenivasa Raju, has become the unlikely epicentre of controversy. Tasked with overseeing infrastructure and projects, Raju seems to have developed a hobby: Poking his nose into every issue imaginable, whether it falls under his purview or not. And his knack for ‘unfiltered commentary’ is proving to be the spice — or bane — at Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy's review meetings. According to insiders, Raju's penchant for making satirical comments about senior IAS officers during high-stakes discussions has raised more than a few eyebrows, and hackles. These quips, often delivered in a razor-sharp manner, have left senior bureaucrats, particularly those at the level of special chief secretary or principal secretary, seething with frustration. It's not just embarrassing; it's downright humiliating, feel IAS officers. The murmurs on the bureaucratic grapevine suggest that Raju's proximity to Revanth affords him a level of impunity that few dare to challenge-at least openly. However, patience among his peers appears to be wearing thin and whispers of an impending showdown are growing louder. "It's only a matter of time before the dam breaks," warned a source familiar with the situation.
Contributions from Vadrevu Srinivas, L. Venkat Ram Reddy, Narender Pulloor, Aruna, K.M.P. Patnaik, P.V. Prasad
