NETA NATTER | BRS MLA LANDS IN ANDHRODU SOUP
In a twist fit for a political drama, BRS Huzurabad MLA Padi Kaushik Reddy has found himself in the eye of a storm, with his increasingly controversial remarks setting off alarm bells within his own party. While the media is abuzz with his inflammatory comments, particularly targeting Andhra Pradesh natives living in Hyderabad and making disrespectful remarks about women, the bigger concern is the electoral fallout that may follow. Party insiders are now wringing their hands, worried that Kaushik’s verbal tirades may cost the BRS dearly in the upcoming Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections. It’s no secret that Andhra Pradesh native voters were the bedrock of the BRS’ success in 18 of the 27 Assembly seats in the Greater Hyderabad region during the previous elections. Without their support, the BRS would have been hard-pressed to even secure 20 seats in the Telangana Assembly for the November 2023 polls. Kaushik Reddy’s latest outburst, in which he called Serilingampally MLA Arekapudi Gandhi an “Andhrodu,” implying that Andhra Pradesh natives are outsiders who came to Hyderabad seeking work, has ruffled feathers in all the wrong places. Many fear that this divisive rhetoric will alienate the very voters who have been critical to the party’s success in Greater Hyderabad.
POLICE HEADQUARTERS OR WHITE ELEPHANT?
Hyderabad’s Integrated Command Control Centre (ICCC), a gleaming structure built in Banjara Hills under the previous BRS regime, appears to have turned into a monumental headache for the Congress government. This ₹600 crore architectural wonder, featuring a sprawling 6.42 lakh sq. ft. area spread across five towers, was meant to be the nerve centre for the city’s policing. Tower A, with 20 storeys, is the current headquarters of the Hyderabad city police commissionerate. However, what was once hailed as a technological leap for law enforcement has turned into a power-guzzling nightmare. The building racks up a jaw-dropping ₹40 lakh electricity bill each month, which has led to whispers in the corridors of power that the Congress government is struggling to foot the bill. But the plot thickens. Despite the futuristic interiors and ample space, police officials are reportedly not thrilled with their new digs. Their main gripe? The ICCC’s far-flung location. Officials are grumbling that it’s simply too remote, with many citing logistical nightmares and traffic woes compared to their beloved old office in Basheerbagh, nestled in the heart of the city. Such being the case, a new request is floating up the chain of command with police officials reportedly lobbying to move their headquarters yet again — this time to the DGP headquarters near the Legislative Assembly. They argue that being based in the heart of the city allows for more efficient policing. As for the ICCC? They propose it should be handed over to the DGP’s office instead. For now, the ICCC remains a striking but underused piece of real estate, raising the question: Was this gleaming tower a visionary investment or just a very expensive power bill waiting to be paid? Only time — and perhaps a few more months of electricity payments — will tell.
KCR MISSING IN ACTION, AGAIN!
Where is he? Even as their lieutenants bear the brunt of the law enforcement stick as they stick their necks out to keep their party alive and relevant, the question doing the rounds in some BRS circles is all about the silence of party president K. Chandrashekar Rao. The slack was picked up by the BRS’ man for all seasons and reasons, T. Harish Rao, supported by several former ministers and current MLAs and other leaders from the party who have been hitting the ground, sitting on protests, and getting dragged around by the cops, raising an uncomfortable question if the top leader of the party was simply not willing, or just not that interested, to get into the thick of action anymore. For the record, while KCR has kept to himself, party working president K.T. Rama Rao has been active on X taking long-distance shots at the government and surfaced on Saturday, upon his return to Hyderabad from his US trip, to speak to the media.
AN ODE TO THE PEOPLE’S CM, NAIDU?
A bit of praise never hurts, even amidst devastation caused by floods that have kept Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu busy, leading rescue and relief operations from the front. But when praise pours with the intensity of a heavy spell of rain, it can cause some discomfiture and this appeared to be the case the other day when Naidu, at a meeting with officials in Eluru, was asked by a woman if she could sing a song that she wrote about him. A quick nod from Naidu was all it took and the woman belted out her ‘Chandruda Ma Chandruda’ song that heaped praise on Naidu for doing a host of things for the state, leaving those wanting to narrate their tale of woes to the Chief Minister to wait, resulting in some visible discomfort among officials present.
HYDRAA CAUSES CRACKS POLITICALLY TOO
Talk about reverberations. Action by HYDRAA in Hyderabad has had residents in Kurnool and Nandyal abuzz about encroachments of tanks and lakes, but by a local YSRC leader and a former MLA from Panyam. When HYDRAA’s chief A.V. Ranganath announced that the demolitions were related to land encroachments by the former MLA Katasani Rambhupal Reddy, and his associate Ramesh, suddenly the YSRC leader was the most-talked-about person in these two towns. While the demolitions went on with the Ameenpur Pedda Cheruvu’s full tank level area in Hyderabad, Katasani, with political roots in AP, blamed the rival TD leaders for spreading falsehoods about him and the demolitions.