NETA NATTER | AMIT SHAH GIVES MP A RIGHT ROYAL FIRING

You have to be very careful when running errands for Union home minister Amit Shah. No matter what the job, he expects perfection and dedication from everyone. Little wonder, BJP Rajya Sabha MP and spokesperson G.V.L. Narasimha Rao had to face the embarrassment of being dressed down recently in full public glare. Shah was giving a speech at a public meeting at Visakhapatnam and it was very pivotal because the BJP was just starting to initiate an attack on the YSRC government led by Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, after four full years of great friendship between the BJP and the YSRC. While Shah went full throttle, GVL, who was doing the translation, fumbled, and was felt to be diluting Shah’s attack against Jagan. After a while, Shah asked him straight, “What are you saying?”, to which GVL rushed close to him and fumbled, “Sir, I could not hear properly.” The problem? Everyone else heard it loud and clear.

BAREFOOT MINISTER TAKES DRAMA UP A NOTCH

Devotion to one’s political leader can take several forms. For tribal welfare minister Satyavathi Rathod it was a vow she took nine months ago that she would walk barefoot until Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao scored a third successive victory in the state. The minister, aspiring for a BRS ticket from one of the ST reserved constituencies of Mulugu, Mahbubabad or Dornakal, recently went a step further and got a ‘KCR’ tattoo on her arm, in public. Later, at a meeting in Mulugu, she urged BRS working president and minister K.T. Rama Rao to announce a name and give responsibilities to that leader to lead Mulugu constituency till the polls. KTR, smart enough to decode such hints, did not oblige, leaving her disappointed. Satyavathi also found that her barefoot deeksha had resulted in blisters on her feet, and walking on the hot ground in the summer sun was making matters worse, It eventually resulted in her being taken to a hospital to have her feet treated, where doctors advised her to wear slippers for a few days. The doughty minister refused and said nothing could deter her from her deeksha to see KCR retain power.

KAVITHA TRIGGERS MUSICAL CHAIRS IN NIZAMABAD

Will she? Won’t she? Speculation is something political party workers and leaders love to indulge in when given the chance and in the undivided Nizamabad district, a hot topic for such discussions is whether Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao’s daughter and BRS MLC Kalvakuntla Kavitha will contest the state elections. She has been going around the district meeting party leaders, activists and sympathisers, and even visiting the homes of ordinary people. After losing the last Lok Sabha elections, she had cut down her trips to the district but is now busy spending as much time as she can there. The real topic of interest for the political folk in Nizamabad is if she contests on an MLA ticket, where would she do so from? All nine Assembly constituencies of the undivided Nizamabad district are represented by BRS MLAs. So, the wait is on to see if someone will lose a place to make way for Kavitha. This prospect of forced musical chairs is giving MLAs sleepless nights. But there may be some hope for them as Bharat Jagruthi activists say their president Kavitha will contest only for the Lok Sabha.

NO BABUS FOR CENTRE FROM AP-TELANGANA?

The Centre’s Appointments Committee of Cabinet recently approved appointments of several IAS officers for additional secretary and equivalent posts. But there were none from the two Telugu states — Andhra Pradesh and Telangana — among the 11 officers in the list. Additional secretaries go on to become secretaries, who play a key role in Union ministries and departments. The buzz in bureaucratic circles is that the AP and Telangana state governments are not willing to send their IAS officers on Central deputation, resulting in fewer IAS officers from these two state cadres at the Union government. The reason for this unwillingness is that the two states are already reeling under severe shortage of IAS officers and they cannot afford to allot their IAS officers to Centre.

THE HEAT IS ON FOR STATE DOCS

The heatwave sweeping across Andhra Pradesh for the last 10 days has confined many field staff to their office or home. Even those under the government scanner are ignoring mandatory field visits. Family physicians are no exception. Villagers in several mandals have complained that family doctors have stopped visiting their homes. They are doing the rounds of clinics, conducting tests and returning home. The government sanctioned 104 vehicles but they stand at parking lots as no doctor wants to go out. Even for conducting tests, doctors are turning lethargic. They are only testing BP and sugar levels and prescribing medicines. As per the rule, they have to conduct 14 tests on each patient. Interestingly, the villagers are still sympathetic towards the doctors instead of being angry. They are heard saying let the heatwave recede and we will make demands of them then.

BABUS TOLD TO KEEP MUM ABROAD

Going abroad? Mind your language. Or better still, do not talk about your work with foreign nationals, and definitely not on social media platforms. This is the diktat that the Centre has issued to top babus going abroad on study leave. The Union ministry of personnel issued guidelines making it mandatory for all India Service (AIS) officers including IAS, IPS and IFS on study leave to conduct themselves properly by following AIS (Conduct) Rules, 1968, and warned them of disciplinary action if they failed to comply. This is in the wake of complaints being received on the conduct of babus and the rise in the number of officials seeking study leave. But then, silence is something babus can practise with aplomb.