NETA NATTER | NAIDU TERMS JAGAN AP’S IRON LEG

Telugu movie actor Gunupudi Viswanatha Sastri who shot to fame as “Iron Leg Sastri” may be mostly forgotten, but the moniker that he earned from a film role continues to live on. A tag associated with the harbinger of bad luck, the “iron leg” reference was used by TD president N. Chandrababu Naidu while taking a potshot at AP Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, calling him an “iron leg” for the state. Speaking at the ‘Baadude Baadudu’ programme against Jagan, Naidu said that Covid came to AP after Jagan became Chief Minister. This statement attracted much attention from social media sleuths who pointed out that actress Roja was tagged similarly while in the Telugu Desam, but after joining the YSRC she won twice as MLA and was now a minister. The trolls went on to state that Roja must now be considered a “golden leg”. Many are left wondering when this political rivalry will result in more entertaining volleys, since both sides have lost all originality, most often choosing Tollywood references to attack their opponents.

KTR TO THE RESCUE OF AILING TEXTILE PLANT

A horrible case of bad luck seems to be plaguing the textile park in Sircilla where unit after unit has been shutting down with weavers complaining of rising costs and not being able to make ends meet. And so, on May 1, when the world celebrated labour day, the shutting down of the park came as a rude shock to industries and IT minister K.T. Rama Rao. Considered the largest textile park in Telangana, and located in KTR’s constituency Sircilla, the abrupt closure on the grounds that the Telangana state government had failed to reimburse power subsidy dues for years attracted severe criticism against the minister and the TRS government on social media platforms. After the closure was heckled by netizens, a string of meetings with officials and textile park representatives were held to resolve pending issues and ensure the park’s reopening. Time will tell if the park survives, but ever since it has become KTR’s pet project people are predicting a brighter future for it.

GOVT DOC DEMANDS AN ARM AND A LEG FOR AUTOPSY

A suicide case in Nellore has caught the attention of lawmakers and bureaucrats across the state. Mudiraj, a young daily-wage worker who had migrated from West Godavari to Kongareddypalli in Nellore for work, took his life since he was unable to support his family or himself. The poverty-stricken family was in for a shock when his body was taken to a community health centre at Udayagiri. Dr Samdhani Basha, the residing MD, asked for `15,000 from the wife of the deceased to perform the autopsy, and gave her a phone number on a piece of paper to which the money had to be transferred online. Ignoring the woman’s pleas that her husband had killed himself because of their abject poverty, the doctor insisted on being paid before conducting the autopsy. When news spread of this heinous act, the doctor was quickly suspended and an inquiry opened up into the doctor’s actions. Knowing how things work though, it’s anybody’s guess what the outcome of the investigation will be.

JAGAN THE TEACHER GAINS PARTY’S APPLAUSE

First it was the evaluation of YSRC MLAs on their performances in the government and now AP Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has resorted to another tactic that’s reminiscent of his days in school. Taking on the role of a teacher, Jagan has taken to asking questions at public meetings, quite alike a lecturer. A favourite ploy of politicians looking for validation from the public on the various issues they raise, Jagan used the tactic in his tirade against arch rival N. Chandrababu Naidu — putting forth eight questions on the implementation of 100 per cent fee reimbursement (Vidya Deevena), boarding and lodging expenses (Vasati Deevena), colleges offering job-oriented studies, facilities in government schools (Nadu-Nedu), English medium, Amma Vodi, free Uniforms, shoes, socks, bilingual textbooks, dictionary, notebooks, school bag, etc., and midday meals schemes. The real question he was alluding to was if the people had ever experienced such programmes during the Naidu regime. The gathering responded that it was the Jagan government that was to be credited for these schemes. The response enthused YSRC leaders and cadres who undoubtedly will now follow the ‘Master Jagan’ strategy to rouse the masses when elections come around.

KOMATIREDDY EMBARRASSES RAGA AT RALLY

Senior Congress leader and Bhongir MP Komatireddy Venkat Reddy was in full form recently when he did what no other Congress leader would have dared to even think of. Komatireddy openly stated at a public rally, which had party former president Rahul Gandhi in attendance, that those working with the Congress with dedication and sincerity for the past 20 or 30 years had not even been given passes to attend the rally at Warangal but a select few who had joined the party recently and had “Delhi connections” got a chance to sit with Rahul on the dais. Komatireddy even made an open appeal to Rahul to give party tickets only to candidates who remained in the public and not to those who lobbied in Delhi. Komatireddy’s comments raised eyebrows within the party as many felt he played spoilsport by openly expressing his dissatisfaction over making Revanth Reddy the TPCC chief, since he had only joined the party recently. Though they all feel the Warangal rally was a big success, Komatireddy’s unwanted and untimely remarks opened up a whole new can of worms, highlighting the disarray the party is in Telangana. People on the inside, however, are of the opinion that Komatireddy already has an understanding with the party’s rivals and is just whiling away time and unnecessarily creating trouble for the TPCC.