NETA NATTER | BEVERLY HILLS TO THE BABUS BRINGS BAD LUCK
Vessella Meadows Park, a premium gated community opposite Taramati Baradari in Hyderabad, is the abode for several babus belonging to the two Telugu states, in particular IPS officials. It is not only known for the palatial villas inside worth crores of rupees but good Vaastu as well. The project promoter however, M. Sivananda Reddy, a former IPS official, was once facing allegations of land grabbing and was found to be absconding when city cops went to Kurnool to arrest him recently. Another resident, Prabhakar Rao is cooling his heels abroad while the city police have been breaking their heads over phone tapping during the BRS regime for which Rao emerged as the kingpin. The babu to gain out of the positive impact of Vaastu of the place is Ch. Dwaraka Tirumala Rao, who has been given Full Additional Charge of Head of Police Force, DGP, in Andhra Pradesh. Folks in the gated community are now hoping that fortunes of those living there may have changed and wish that lady luck continues to keep smiling at Tirumala Rao till he attains superannuation.
TIME TO GET SERIOUS FOR PAWAN KALYAN
Once again, Pawan Kalyan, who is the star of AP politics, appears to have provided top-tier content for members. These keyboard warriors, ever-vigilant for any slip-up, have pounced on Pawan Kalyan’s latest move, catapulting it into social media stardom. Upon taking charge as Deputy Chief Minister, he signed the official document with an added flourish — a heart symbol. Naturally, this artistic touch on a government document has ignited a wave of trolling. Because who wouldn’t expect a professional signature to include a heartfelt doodle? Clearly, his love for giving autographs to his fans might just need a bit of tweaking as he gets going wearing his new ministerial shoes.
TD STARTS ITS RENAMING GAME
What’s in a name? A lot, if the goings on in Andhra Pradesh after the new government took charge are anything to go by. The weekly Monday public grievances redressal system ‘Spandana’ is now ‘Meekosam’, and the popular ‘Nadu-Nedu’ programme aimed to renovate the old school buildings, is now ‘School Infrastructure Improvement’ programme. So is the case with several other welfare schemes where prefixes to the titles of the schemes have been either changed or replaced with the names of the leaders of choice of the government of the day.
BOTSA’S SILENCE GROWS TOO LOUD FOR EVERYONE
Former minister Botsa Satyanarayana, highly visible during the AP election campaign period, has suddenly disappeared from sight after the YSRC’s loss in the AP elections. With his confident predictions that the YSRC will win 175 MLA seats falling flat, Satyanarayana is now lying low despite gaining prominence as a leader from North Andhra. In contrast, another former minister, Gudivada Amarnath, who suffered a significant defeat, addressed the media in Vizag, acknowledging the party’s miscalculated expectations and expressing the YSRC’s intent to learn from the defeat. Meanwhile, rumours are running rife that Satyanarayana may be making his way to the BJP and hence the current period of silence.
NIZAMABAD AND KAMAREDDY UNSURE OF WHO’S THE BIG BOSS
Officials of Nizamabad and Kamareddy districts are facing a peculiar situation by having to do ‘double duty’ with ruling Congress leaders and opposition BJP leaders. Of nine MLA seats, four were won by the Congress, three BJP and two the BRS in both districts. In the constituencies represented by opposition parties, Congress leaders who are constituency in-charges are holding review meetings with the district officials, as is the case with Md Ali Shabbir in Kamareddy and Nizamabad, represented by BJP MLAs K. Venkataramana Reddy and Dhanpal Suryanarayana Gupta. With stakes getting higher each day, TPCC working president and MLC B. Mahesh Kumar Goud is also “coordinating” with officials resulting in multiple review meetings, first with Congress leaders, and then with the elected opposition MLAs. The reports and venues are the same, but elected representatives are different.
REVANTH PUSHES FOR MORE TRAINING FOR JOB SKILLS
In a recent meeting with students of ITIs in Mallepally in Hyderabad, Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy shared his experience to stress the point on the importance of acquiring job skills and why just getting a degree certificate might not be enough. Revanth Reddy said he gave an advertisement inviting applications from engineering graduates and mestris (supervisors without engineering degrees monitoring construction workers at sites) for construction of a house. Revanth said while civil engineering graduates came forward to work for a salary of `15,000 to `20,000 per month, mestris demanded `60,000 per month. His inquiries, he said showed that the engineers lacked required skills and practical knowledge while mestris gained enormous work experience in the field. And that is the gap that the ITIs transformed into Advanced Technology Centres imparting practical skills will help graduates plant their feet firmly in the job market, he said.
SWAMI CHANGES COLOUR WITH CHANGING WINDS
Swami Swaroopanandendra Mahaswamy is in a dilemma and is spending sleepless nights after the YSRC government was toppled in the recent elections. Swamy’s upward swing began after he performed Raja Syamala Yagam for K. Chandrasekhara Rao who believed that the yagam saw him through the elections in 2018 and made him chief minister for a second time. He performed the same yagam for Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy in 2019 and after Jagan Mohan Reddy became chief minister, the Swamy gained importance in Telangana and AP which led all the ministers, MPs and MLAs to make a beeline to his Ashram Sarada Peetham in Chinamushidivada in Pendurthi in Visakhapatnam. The AP government provided him prime land in Bheemili and police security and a motorcade which costs the government `25 lakh per month. But after YSRC’s crushing defeat, the Swamy called for a press conference and announced his full blessings (support) to the N. Chandrababu Naidu government, fearing action detrimental to his interests by the new government.
AMBATI RAMBABU PUTS FOOT IN MOUTH
In what can only be described as a self-goal, former AP irrigation minister Ambati Rambabu admitted he lacked an understanding of the state’s massive Polavaram irrigation project despite overseeing it for almost two years. Rambabu, who held the crucial irrigation portfolio in the YSRC government, casually let this bombshell drop at a press meet the other day. Rambabu’s statement — “Polavaram project nakey artham kaledu” — has left many stunned. But Rambabu wasn’t done finding the back of his own net. He doubled down, claiming he was the pioneering soul brave enough to admit the project’s complexity first, and that even Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had to follow his lead. His remarks reignited debate around mismanagement of the troubled multi-billion-dollar project, with YSRC rivals baying for accountability from the previous government.
GHMC OFFICIALS FEEL THE IRE OF GOVT
Bureaucracy is no kids’ business. The recent transfers of some officials have had some in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation begin talking about how childcare duties of some officials do not trump political compulsions. The buzz started after Abhilasha Abhinav who was earlier retained in GHMC as Kukatpally zonal commissioner due to childcare commitments, was transferred and posted as Collector Nirmal district. But then, questions began doing the rounds that Abhilasha may have faced the ire of some in the government following her crackdown on illegal buildings, enforcement activity and reshuffling of town planning wing officers.
CONTRIBUTIONS FROM Nabinder Bommala, Vamsi Srinivas, L Venkatram Reddy, Avinash P Subramanyam, KMP Patnaik, Narender Pulloor, Laxmi Pranathi, Aruna, Sampat G Samritan