NETA\'S NATTER | CM’S SECURITY JITTERY

Touching the feet of elders, and seeking their blessings is an enduring tradition. But then, it is easy to turn a touching tradition into an act of sycophancy. When this happens to someone like TRS president and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, the fallout is not as much on those falling at his feet but on his security officials who are having an increasingly tough time doing their job as the sudden rush of someone or the other to touch KCR’s feet is leaving them a little flummoxed. Such was the case the other day when KCR addressed a public meeting of Banjaras and Adivasis at NTR Stadium in Hyderabad, with several tribal leaders from the TRS sharing the dais with him. As soon as he announced his intention to increase reservations for the ST community from its present 6 per cent to 10, and promised to issue a GO on this within a week irrespective of the Centre’s approval, tribal welfare minister Satyavathi Rathod, ST MLAs Banoth Shankar Nayak, Rega Kantha Rao, Ajmeera Rekha, Rathod Bapu Rao etc., rushed towards the CM and touched his feet to express gratitude. KCR tried in vain to stop them even as his security staff got jittery at the sudden rush. With political heat rising, and TRS leaders vying with each other to prove their loyalty to KCR, a little bird tells us that the CM’s security staff are now an increasingly worried lot.

NEXT GUEST ON DOSA WITH RAGA? REVANTH REDDY

A quick trip to Kerala by Telangana PCC chief A. Revanth Reddy to update his boss who is on the nationwide Bharat Jodo yatra led to a personal moment of bonding, which has left several rivals within the party filled with envy. A fly on the wall reports that after Revanth and Rahul had walked for a while and the time came for a snack break, they entered a small restaurant. While Revanth was busy giving updates, Rahul ordered a single masala dosa. Hungry or not, Revanth ignored his own plight and did not order anything for himself. When the dosa arrived, Rahul in an unexpected gesture cut it into two and offered one portion to Revanth. Quite taken aback, Revanth reportedly enjoyed the best masala dosa of his life. While Revanth must have decided to eat only masala dosas from now on, some of the Congress leaders from the state, who don’t like Revanth, don’t want to see a masala dosa again.

CONGRESS VETERANS VOW LIFELONG LOYALTY

They may have had to face some embarrassing moments, but veteran Congress leaders from Telangana state seem to have had the last laugh, over the Enforcement Directorate serving notices on former ministers Shabbir Ali, J. Geetha Reddy, P. Sudarshan Reddy and former MP Anjan Kumar Yadav, over the issue of funding companies involved in the National Herald case. The ‘Famous Four’ claimed that they had donated funds to the party, that too in the form of cheques, and hence had nothing to be worried about. These leaders, who received their share of the cake when the Congress was in power as beneficiaries of the party, showed that just because the Congress was out of power they were not the ones to leave it in the lurch when it needed its leaders the most. Kudos to the veterans!

MITHALI RAJ — BJP’S NEXT MASTER BLASTER?

As a cricketer she had the field to herself, so to speak. If recent events are anything to go by, it looks like former India women’s cricket captain Mithali Raj is all set for a new innings in the days to come, this time with the BJP. Her recent meeting with Union home minister Amit Shah in Delhi, and the prior meeting with BJP president J.P. Nadda, are pointing to her preparing to step on to a new pitch, that of politics with the BJP in Telangana state, if the grapevine in the party is anything to go by. The highest run-scorer in women’s cricket could just be the one to bolster the BJP’s batting line up in the city when elections come around next year for the Assembly.

JAGAN ATTACKS NAIDU ON HOME TURF

How do you take down your political rival once and for all? Or at least attempt to do this as seriously as you can? By going for the jugular of course. That is precisely what YSR Congress president and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy is busy with, by hitting the TD where it hurts the most — in Kuppam, the home turf and constituency of TD president N. Chandrababu Naidu. After having declared his ambition to win every one of the 175 seats in the Assembly in the next elections, Jagan launched this big battle from Kuppam in Chittoor district which has been represented by Naidu since 1989. For Jagan with his all-and-everything slogan for the next elections, the battle to degrade Naidu's and TD’s bastion in Kuppam holds the key, YSRC insiders say. If you get Kuppam, Naidu, you can get all others too, is the current mood. But will the wily Naidu give up? Watch this space for the answers as the days go by.