NETA NATTER: TELANGANA-ANDHRA BHAI BHAI?

Telangana state industries minister K.T. Rama Rao and his Andhra Pradesh counterpart Gudivada Amarnath exchanging pleasantries ahead of Andhra Pradesh Global Investors Summit in Visakhapatnam has created quite the buzz in business and political circles. It was Amarnath who first drew parallels between Hyderabad and Vizag — calling Hyderabad the “big brother” of Vizag. Amarnath, who was in Hyderabad to promote AP’s Global Investors Summit, said, “I had never dreamt of promoting AP standing in Hyderabad, where North meets South, biology meets technology and life sciences marry data science. We are extremely proud of the development of our big brother Hyderabad.” In response, Rama Rao called Vizag a “younger brother” and Andhra Pradesh a “sister state”. Rama Rao tweeted, “Good luck to our younger brother Vizag & sister state AP, as they conduct their Global Investors Summit. I wish them the very best. May both Telugu speaking states prosper and be the best in India.” Rama Rao also posted a news clipping of Amarnath stating, “Proud of big brother Hyd’s development,” making many wonder where this newfound sense of bonhomie is stemming from all of a sudden.

AIMIM AND BRS SORT OUT DIFFERENCES

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi has had a new task, amidst the several he handles with aplomb, that of clearing the air following some anticipation laced with an equal measure of confusion by his brother and party floor leader in Assembly, Akbaruddin Owaisi. Akbar”s assertion that the party will field 50 candidates did not go down well with the BRS, the AIMIM’s ally. Asad, in damage control mode, not only visited the Assembly the next day during the Budget session but also ruled out the possibility by saying, “A right decision will be taken at a right time,” when questioned by the media. On the party’s foundation day on March 2, even as the younger brother threw all his weight behind the elder brother and his unquestionable leadership, the elder Owaisi in an indirect reference to the BRS, expressed satisfaction and reiterated AIMIM’s continued support to the BRS even in the next elections. Terming Telangana to be a peaceful state, Asad asserted that a strategy will be chalked out to keep BJP at bay.

REVANTH ATTACKS BRS TOP BRASS

History, as they say, has a way of teaching lessons at unexpected intervals and when it comes to politics, the past can be used to beat up the Opposition — as TPCC president A. Revanth Reddy has been seeking to demonstrate in his speeches during his ongoing padayatra. Quoting the millennia long history of Telangana, Revanth has been drawing attention to how the Kakatiya dynasty was destroyed because its rulers trusted the Padma Naikas (Velamas) ignoring the powerful Reddys. Call it a coincidence, or a well-planned barb by the Congress leader, the fact is that the BRS’s top leadership is run by those from the Velama community.

TPCC FLEXIS SIGNAL INTERNAL COUP

In politics, every sign, every symbol, and their size in particular, can tell a story in these days of flexis, and pictures tell a tale of their own. The ongoing padayatra by A. Revanth Reddy, the TPCC president, is a case in point. In several locations flexis put up by party men about the padayatra, have displayed Revanth’s picture in the same size as those of other party leaders. That there is a succession battle in the party has never been a secret. And by “cutting down” Revanth’s pictures to size, some Congress leaders are apparently seeking to send a message that Revanth might be the TPCC chief but, as far as they are concerned, he is just one among them.

LOKESH’S NEW NICKNAME — SELFIE BABU

Nara Lokesh Naidu, the heir apparent of the Telugu Desam, and now on his Yuva Galam padayatra, is fast earning a new nickname — that of a “selfie babu”. It all started with party leaders taking selfies with Lokesh that found their way to social media platforms. Apparently realising the value of a few moments spent for selfies, Lokesh is now happily obliging people during his padayatra when it comes to them taking selfies with him. Not stopping there, Lokesh has been taking selfies with various projects completed during the TD’s rule in AP and posting them on social media. And party leaders couldn’t be happier as the TD name and that of its emerging leader are being spread around by all those selfie takers.

GALLAS’ FUTURE UNCERTAIN WITH TD

Industrialist-turned-politician Galla Jayadev, a Telugu Desam MP from Guntur, is staring at an uncertain political future. Though a native of Chittoor district, Jayadev was compelled to contest the last two elections from Guntur due to enigmatic reasons. Despite the anti-TD wave in 2019, he steered his political career to safety and reached Parliament. However, things have turned bitter for him after the YSRC government began allegedly going after his Amara Raja factories in the erstwhile Chittoor district. With no one from the TD jumping to his rescue, word doing the rounds is that he could well walk out of the TD when the time is right, with observers pointing out that he has become increasingly silent on issues related to the AP government. Though some rumours did do the rounds earlier that he could switch to the BJP, they have so far remained just that. The Gallas’ reported plans to contest from his native Chandragiri Assembly constituency on a TD ticket have since been scorched by Nara Lokesh of the TD who recently toured Chandragiri as part of his Yuva Galam padayatra with the younger Naidu confirming Pulivarthi Nani as the candidate. The question now doing the rounds is whether Jayadev will quit the TD, and politics in AP and move to Telangana where his company has initiated expansion plans all of a sudden.

BJP-BRS TUSSLE OVER HOUSING PROMISES

How does one make a point when it comes to an unkept promise by the government? Especially if it involves the promise of free housing for the poor? The Telangana BJP believes it has found an answer. As part of its campaign against the BRS government, some BJP leaders have readied flexis with images of Pragati Bhavan — the official residence and camp office of Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao to highlight how the BRS government has failed to keep its promise of two-bedroom houses for the poor. The party hopes that by talking about how these houses were readied and distributed in VIP constituencies of Sircilla, Siddipet, Gajwel and Banswada, it can demonstrate how the BRS government did not keep its big promise of housing for the poor.