Keeping promises one makes to win an election is one thing. But keeping those made by 100 others including ministers on the candidate’s behalf in another thing altogether. Such is reportedly the plight of Koosukuntla Prabhakar Reddy, BRS leader who won a high voltage byelection from Munugode with the ruling party in Telangana state throwing in everything it had to ensure his victory and the defeat of BJP candidate Komatireddy Rajgopal Reddy. That bypoll saw BRS MLAs and ministers fanning out into every mandal and village and making promises to the people and now the people want some action and Prabhakar Reddy, reportedly is not in a position to make that happen. The word doing the rounds is he is not even interested in contesting from Munugode the next time in the elections as he is certain that the BRS will be busy with 118 other constituencies and he now reportedly wants to stick to district level politics and may be contesting for the zilla parishad. Some joys, apparently, are short lived
POLITICS — A FAMILY GAME
Family roll calls are one thing, political roll calls are another thing altogether. Demonstrating the fine line that needs to be maintained but crossed when the need arises are some from the Nizamabad district getting ready for a tight rope walk, with these political acrobatics appearing to cut across party lines. Nizamabad MP Dharmapuri Arvind’s elder brother and former mayor of Nizamabad Municipal Corporation, Dharmapuri Sanjay, after having joined the Congress, is now an aspirant for an MLA ticket from the Nizamabad Urban Assembly constituency while Arvind’s future prospects (whether he contests for the Assembly or the Lok Sabha based on the BJP high command’s directions) are still up in the air. Elsewhere, roads and buildings minister V. Prashanth Reddy’s sister, Radhika Reddy, is reportedly readying to contest to become an MLA. The state’s Congress leadership is reported to be in touch with Radhika, a state government employee. To avoid any embarrassment to her brother, she wants to leave his Balkonda constituency alone and reportedly plans to contest from the Armoor or the Nizamabad Rural constituency.
POLITICOS FIGHT FOR MORE COPS
The jurisdiction of a particular police station may not matter much for the citizens as long as they get the service they expect from the law enforcement agency but for politicians this could well be a matter of pride, if not control over “assets” or “potential assets”. Caught in such a crossfire between two MLAs recently was the Hyderabad police commissionerate after the reorganisation committee finalised some police stations and their location. When these recommendations finally took shape, an MLA was upset that his neighbouring legislator’s constituency would have two more police stations than his own. And after taking up the matter with the powers that be, the MLA got two more police stations but then was faced with the problem of naming them after their locations. After some more running around the MLA managed to get the locations and names just right to suit his purpose, and also managed to get chunk of his neighbouring MLA’s constituency to fall under the jurisdiction of one of the new police stations. And that is how you get the cops to do your bidding.
CONGRESS LEADERS JOSTLE FOR SPOT DURING RAGA VISIT
Standing firm is something every politician wants to be seen doing. But an unseemly act of jostling for space between Komatireddy Venkat Reddy and Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, two senior Congress leaders in Khammam on stage with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has apparently left a bad taste among the party cadre. In a video clip that went viral soon after the incident, Bhatti could be seen being pushed aside by Venkat Reddy, accidentally or otherwise, but the act itself, party insiders say, is a pointer at how desperate some Congress netas are in hogging the limelight.
NEW BJP CHIEF IN AP — TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE?
N. Purandeswari may have taken over the reins of the BJP in Andhra Pradesh but other political parties are already sharpening their knives to dismiss her appointment as nothing but a change that will do no good for the party in that state. Leaders from the YSRC, the ruling party, have already started talking about how she is a “non-resident” leader, just as they have been saying about Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan, and even TD supremo N. Chandrababu Naidu who the YSRC says spends more time out of AP than in the state. Will the latest charge against the new AP BJP chief stick, only time will tell even as the party slowly begins to come to grips with the removal of Somu Veerraju and Purandeswari’s appointment.
JANA SENA-YSRC TAKE BATTLE TO THE STREETS
The road to power is never smooth but is paved with potholes and hurdles. This appears to be literally the case for Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan who recently warned that if the AP government does not repair the Razole bypass road within a week, the Jana Sainiks, including himself, will take up that task. Spurred into action to prevent the spectacle of Pawan Kalyan repairing a bad road, the authorities promptly responded and began the repairs. Not to be outdone, YSRC cadres launched a counter attack claiming that everywhere Pawan Kalyan went, his followers were digging up the roads to erect tents and once he leaves, were leaving the roads in a bad shape. To prove their point, they also took up filling up such holes by taking up patch work. This is one battle between the Jana Sena and the YSRC where the parties took their fight literally to the streets.
STALWARTS LOOKING TO RETIRE IF UNRELENTING CM ALLOWS
Telangana state’s power sector superman D. Prabhakar Rao, the CMD of Transco and Genco, the other day said that it was time he was let go from his position, and that his health was no longer cooperating with the tasks he is responsible for and that it was time to pass on the baton to the next generation after heading the power utilities in the state since 2014. Known to be a close aide of Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, he is credited with resolving the power crisis in the state. This request was made at a meeting organised by power employees recently, that was also attended by energy minister G. Jagadish Reddy, where Prabahkar Rao made it known that he would take up his retirement issue with the Chief Minister. The same is the case with TSNPDCL MD A Gopal Rao, who is 78 years old. He works from Warangal, the TSNPDCL headquarters, and is reported to be struggling to attend departmental meetings at Hyderabad.
