NETA NATTER | BRS MLAs FEELING OVERWHELMED

With great power comes great responsibility. TRS leaders, who never blinked when it came to shuttling between their constituencies and Hyderabad all these years, are finding this bitter truth hard to swallow. After morphing into the BRS, party workers are finding that national ambitions come at a cost. They now shuttle between states, luring local leaders into the BRS to expand the party. More importantly, they are responsible for arranging Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao’s public meetings in other states. These activities come at a substantial cost, if BRS leaders are to be believed. And so, BRS MLAs and ministers from constituencies sharing borders with Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh from the districts of Adilabad, Nizamabad, Khammam, Ranga Reddy and Mahbubnagar, have begun to feel the stress and burden of making the BRS a “national” party. They now envy party colleagues from the “inner” areas of Telangana state who don’t have to hustle as much. “They don’t have the burden we have,” is the refrain going around from these “frontline warriors” of the newly minted BRS.

RUMOURS OF TRANSFERS IN IAS

The last time Telangana state saw a major reshuffle of IAS officers was three years ago — way back in February 2020 —  when 50 IAS officers were transferred at one go. After that, though periodic speculation did the rounds, no major reshuffle has been undertaken. But with IAS officer Somesh Kumar who was the Chief Secretary getting transferred to the AP cadre all of a sudden early this month, and a new Chief Secretary A. Santhi Kumari taking charge, rumour mills are once again abuzz over transfers. The government transferred 91 IPS officers, the highest single shot transfers of IPS officials in Telangana state on Wednesday at midnight. This triggered speculation that IAS officers will also be transferred in a day or two, which did not happen. The delay is because of the Budget Session of the Assembly starting from February 3 and transfers, if any, are likely to happen after the session gets over. Meanwhile, some officials continue to wait for potentially plum posts.

UNPARLIAMENTARY LINGO ON THE RISE

Tongues can sometimes have a life of their own, particularly if they belong to politicians. When some speak, it becomes clear that they do not care about what they say and if the words and expressions they employ are nasty, downright disgusting, vile, foul, repulsive, loathsome, spiteful, and malicious. There are several more adjectives that fit the filthy language politicians employ at will. The latest examples of such distasteful behaviour came from two leaders from two states — Andhra Pradesh and Telangana — K. Atchannaidu of the TD, and Padi Kaushik Reddy of the BRS. The first used some abusive words while speaking about policemen deployed to provide security to Nara Lokesh, the TD heir apparent. Atchannaidu’s grouse was that the cops were misusing funds provided for bandobust but there were no cops to be seen during Lokesh’s padayatra. Then there was Kaushik Reddy who the other day used a pretty nasty expression while criticising Telangana state Governor Tamilisai Soundarragan. So much for politicians setting a good example for people to follow.

FESTIVAL BRINGS FOES TOGETHER

Political leaders, if nothing, are masters at chasing votes. Even if it means sharing a stage with rivals they would not be caught in the same frame for a picture with. Such was the case at the Nagoba Jatara, the popular tribal festival in Adilabad. If gaining even a slight political benefit is likely, then it is worth the effort. This appeared to be the belief among the leaders, something that former Adilabad BRS MP Godam Nagesh learned while leaders of “different parties” were attending the Nagoba Darbar. This was not lost on Adivasi leaders who said the obvious — that all the leaders were there for political benefit and their presence had nothing to do with honouring Adivasi customs and beliefs.