Resignations galore in AP's ongoing political drama

DESARAJU SURYA
Hyderabad: From a gram panchayat ward member to a member of Parliament, elected representatives at different levels of the political pyramid cutting across party lines, have resigned to their posts in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions strongly protesting the “unilateral decision” of the Congress to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh.
Scores of panchayat ward members, sarpanches, mandal parishad territorial constituency members, mandal parishad presidents, zilla parishad territorial constituency members, municipal councillors, municipal chairpersons, municipal corporation corporators, mayors, zilla parishad chiefs, MLAs, MLCs and MPs belonging to Congress, Telugu Desam, Praja Rajyam parties have put in their papers.
Ministers, both Central and state, hailing from the region, however, haven’t yet decided on their resignations despite mounting pressure from their respective regions for them to follow in the footsteps of fellow legislators.
The ministers so far have remained silent on the issue.
While the number of MPs who resigned is five (two Congress and three TDP), the number of MLAs touched 130, including 76 Congress, 40 TDP and 14 PRP. As many as 34 members of the state Legislative Council have also tendered their resignation, strongly denouncing the Centre’s move to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh.
The en masse resignation spree is seen as an unprecedented development in the political history anywhere in the country so far.
The first salvo was fired by Congress’ Lagadapati Rajagopal, Lok Sabha member from Vijayawada, the “political capital” of Andhra Pradesh. To follow him immediately were senior MLAs and former ministers J C Diwakar Reddy and D L Ravindra Reddy.
The resignation spree then spread like wildfire as many other MLAs and MLCs belonging to different parties from Andhra and Rayalaseema regions followed suit.
Taking a cue from the MPs and the MLAs, Vijayawada city Mayor M Ratnabindu quit her post even as more than 25 corporators of Vijayawada Municipal Corporation too joined the protest.
Mayors of Rajahmundry, Kakinada, Kadapa and Guntur cities, chairperson of Anantapur Zilla Parishad and heads of various other local bodies too tendered their resignations.
The spate of resignations is only increasing as more number of elected representatives are said to be putting in their papers individually, reports from different regions say.

"JAI ANDHRA"

DESARAJU SURYA
Hyderabad: The “Jai Andhra” slogan is back.
As the struggle for a separate Telangana state is gathering momentum, leaders who took part in the Jai Andhra movement way back in the early 1970s have once again raised the slogan seeking a separate Andhra state.
First to raise the call for a separate Andhra is the current chairman of Andhra Pradesh Co-operative Central Bank and former Home Minister Vasantha Nageswara Rao.
Former MP and senior leader of Praja Rajya Party Chegondi Harirama Jogaiah quit his party to join the Jai Andhra movement.
In Vijayawada, activists performed “ksheerabhishekam” (washing with milk) on the statue of late Kakani Venkata Ratnam, the spearhead of the Jai Andhra movement, and raised slogans demanding a separate Andhra state.
“When people of Telangana region want a separate state, let Andhra Pradesh be divided amicably. We shall get separated as good brothers without any misgivings or prejudices,” Vasantha Nageswara Rao said.
Jogaiah responded to Vasantha’s call and said he was ready to join the movement. He protested the PRP’s stand supporting the separate Telangana statehood demand.
“I can’t work in PRP when it is supporting Telangana state. Hence I have decided to quit and join the Jai Andhra movement,” Jogaiah said.
As of now, the leaders say no specific course of action has been chalked for taking the demand for separate Andhra state forward.
“We want to achieve Andhra state through peaceful means. And we are mustering support for that,” Vasantha Nageswara Rao said.
Many Congress MPs hailing from the coastal Andhra region have expressed support to the Jai Andhra cause while other leaders are expected to join them soon.
Interestingly, all the leaders who are now espousing the separate Andhra cause are in favour of a unified state.
But, with the Telangana Rashtra Samiti turning the separate Telangana demand into a violent agitation and attacking Andhra people and their properties, the coastal leaders too have decided to revive the Jai Andhra movement.
“Why should we bear the insults,” Vasantha questioned.

Rosaiah government under pressure over Telangana

DESARAJU SURYA
Hyderabad: The K Rosaiah government in Andhra Pradesh finds itself under immense pressure from not only the opposition parties but also a section of the Congress leaders to find out an early solution to the Telangana crisis even as the Chief Minister discussed with his Cabinet colleagues from the region the strategies to be adopted to arrive at an amicable solution.
The state government is now looking towards the Centre for a bail out as the Congress MPs hailing from Telangana requested Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to come up with a decision on the contentious issue.
With the winter session of the state Legislature set to begin on Monday, the state government was seriously engaged in deliberations to find a solution to the crisis in the wake of the stepped up agitation for a separate state.
Telangana Rashtra Samiti president K Chandrasekhar Rao remained stubborn for the fifth day today as he refused to end his fast while two of his party legislators locked themselves up in their Legislature Party office in the Assembly here and announced that they were going on a fast. The two MLAs – N Odelu and Koppula Easwar threatened to commit suicide if anyone tried to evict them from their office.
Health Minister Danam Nagender called on Chandrasekhar Rao at the NIMS, where he is said to be continuing his fast, as an emissary of the Chief Minister and prevailed upon him to end the fast. “I shall end my fast only if a positive statement on Telangana is made,” KCR reportedly told Nagender.
The state government has sent M V Rao, working in a private hospital here, as the personal doctor to attend on KCR in NIMS on his request. NIMS doctors said the fasting leader was being administered saline and his health condition was stable.
The principal opposition Telugu Desam Party, meanwhile, said it would not directly take part in any agitation for Telangana but would support any legislative process to facilitate formation of a separate state.
“We shall extend our support if the government moves a resolution in the Assembly for creation of Telangana state,” TDP senior MLA Erraballi Dayakar Rao said.
The Praja Rajyam Party wanted the government to find an amicable solution to the issue and not to resort to oppressive measures. “Since the Congress is in power both in the state and at the Centre, it should take the initiative any facilitate the process of carving out Telangana state,” PRP Political Affairs Committee member C Ramachandraiah said.
The CPI announced that its affiliate wings like All India Students Federation would take direct part in the agitation for a separate Telangana state. “We have already passed a political resolution seeking statehood for Telangana. We shall raise the issue in the ensuing session of the state Legislature as well as the ongoing session of Parliament,” CPI state secretary K Narayana said.
Rajya Sabha member and senior Congress leader V Hanumantha Rao, a proponent of Telangana, said they had already informed their high command about the urgent need for taking a favourable decision on the statehood demand. “Our MPs have already spoke to Sonia Gandhi on this and also the Prime Minister. I have apprised the National Security Adviser M K Narayanan about the fresh round of agitation for Telangana and sought his intervention as well,” Hanumantha Rao told students who mobbed his residence.
Meanwhile, reports from various parts of Telangana said students as well as other sections continued to resort to violent acts demanding immediate grant of statehood for the region.
In Dilsukhnagar, agitated students blocked the convoy of Information Technology Minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy while effigies of Higher Education Minister D Sridhar Babu and Home Minister P Sabita Indra Reddy were burnt elsewhere.
Two private buses were gutted at Kukatpally here while few other incidents of damage to public property were reported from Medak, Nizamabad and Warangal districts.

Attacks on media

Hyderabad: At least 88 journalists have been killed so far this year and hundreds of media employees have been arrested and jailed, most often following sham trials or without formal charges being brought against them, the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) said in its half-year review of press freedom world-wide. More than 750 journalists have been murdered world-wide in the past decade, the report presented to the Board of WAN-IFRA at its meeting in Hyderabad said today. The horrific attack in the Philippines on November 23, in which more than 30 journalists were among the 57 murdered, was the deadliest single attack on media in memory. That brought the total of journalists killed in the Philippines to 35 this year, making it the most dangerous country in the world for journalists. The report said: Hundreds of media employees have been arrested for their work in the past year and at least 170 remain in jail today. “The hostility of many governments to any form of dissent continues to impede independent news reporting in Asia. Journalists reporting on corruption find themselves in the firing line of those directly or indirectly exposed by their reports. Continued imprisonment of journalists in China, Burma's mass censorship and repression of independent media, the consequences of decades-long civil war in Sri Lanka, and the violence against the press in Nepal are only some of the key challenges facing press freedom in the region,” the report noted. Governments throughout the Middle East and North Africa continue to demonstrate their intolerance for truth, dissent and satire. Journalists and freedom of expression advocates are continuously targeted by the authorities, while the severe crackdown on blogging region-wide reveals how much governments believe that the Internet can be a threat to their power, according to the half-yearly report. “Across Africa, Heads of State and their friends continue to abuse criminal defamation and sedition laws to punish journalists who expose policy failures and corruption, and who report on conflicts and opposition views,” the WAN-IFRA report pointed out. Crackdowns on the independent press and the use of force are intensifying, inducing both self- and government-imposed censorship. In Latin America, governments and criminals ruthlessly attack journalists investigating high-level corruption and organised crime. Reporters are murdered with impunity, while critical and opposition media are shut down arbitrarily. “Prosecution and violence continues to be aimed at journalists in various parts of Europe and Central Asia, as they question government policies, use information deemed classified or unveil human rights abuses. Police raids, abductions and imprisonments remain common,” the report observed.

Rahul Gandhi and the students

DESARAJU SURYA
Vijayawada: Rahul Gandhi is on a mission. He is going round the country to tap young talent for politics. He is trying to create leaders from among the people and the first step in this direction is his interaction with students of various educational institutions across the country.
Rahul is prodding students to join politics, set a new trend and clean up the system.
Given his lineage, and the kind of frenzy in the Congress party, it is but natural that people strongly feel Rahul will become the Prime Minister of India one day, like his father.
But Rahul himself seem to dislike being portrayed as the Prime Minister-in-waiting.
"Please don't consider me as the future Prime Minister. Nobody can predict the future and what lies in store. Anybody can become the Prime Minister," he said during an interaction with over 1500 students at the Loyola College.
Rahul said the current Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was doing a good job.
It was a freewheeling 90-minute-long interaction session where Rahul spoke elaborately on every issue raised. He was a very composed and lent a keen ear to what all his audience said. He expressed his opinion on different issues in a fair manner.
More than two decades after his father and late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi lamented that only 15 paise out of each rupee earmarked for welfare actually reached the targeted beneficiaries, Rahul Gandhi has regretted that the same scenario prevailed even now.
“What my father said long ago is still true. Only 15 paise out of every rupee is reaching the targeted people. Hence, the continuing divide between the rich and the poor in the country,” Rahul said.
When a student asked Rahul why the rich became richer and the poor became poorer, he replied this was a glaring anomaly that needs to be rectified. “Your late Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy took some steps to correct this trend but still a lot more needs to be done,” the Amethi MP noted.
Asked whether he had a vision for the middle-class people, Rahul again referred to the schemes launched by Rajasekhara Reddy for the betterment of this section of the society. “Rajasekhara Reddy was an exceptional leader who initiated many schemes to improve the lot of middle-class people. Tell me, what was the average life span of Indians in 1947 and what is it now? Isn’t it better now? It was only because of something has been done over the years,” he remarked.
Rahul said there was nothing called “brain drain” in his perspective. “There is nothing wrong if Indians go abroad to learn something. If we create better opportunities here, they will come back,” he noted.
When a student referred to the recent spate of attacks on Indian students in Australia, the young MP observed: “We are not weak-minded people. Can’t we face them?”
When a student pointed out that merit was losing out because of the system of reservations, Rahul conducted a voting among the participants on whether or not they were in favour of reservations. An overwhelming number of students raised their hands against reservations while only a handful gave their thumbs up. When two girl students argued for and against the system of reservations, Rahul remarked: “These (perceptions on reservations) are symptoms of a big disease. We need to cure the disease first.”
When the issue of global warming was raised by a student, Rahul said awareness needs to be created against the use of plastics and polythene that became a threat to ecology.
Rahul told the students that the purpose of his interaction with them was to make them feel responsible to the country. “I want to fill politics with young side and help improve politics. So far, politics has remained for the relatives of politicians. I want to change that,” he said.
“Also, I want to inculcate in students the habit of asking questions,” he added.
Rahul pointed out that judiciary in the country was “too slow” and said it has to “improve.”
Replying to a question on why no action was being taken against people speaking against the country and the Vandemataram, Rahul Gandhi referred to the case of his father’s assassination trial and the long-drawn process of justice administration.
“We have a system of judiciary which is too slow. Take my personal case. My father was assassinated. You all know how many years it took for its trial,” Rahul pointed out and stressed the need for improving the justice administration process.
Replying specifically to the question, Rahul said: “Ours is not a dictatorship and everything is dealt with in accordance with the law.”
Rahul himself posed a question to the 1500-odd students: “What will be the biggest challenge that India faces in the next 30 years?”
“Politics and corruption,” one girl student replied. “Poverty,” said a boy.
Elimination of corruption was the biggest challenge, many students noted.

No fooling people, Chiranjeevi.

DESARAJU SURYA
Hyderabad: At last, the word came from the horse’s mouth.
“We shall not even entertain such thoughts (of merging the Praja Rajyam Party with the Congress),” Chiranjeevi has announced.
It was the first time that Chiranjeevi came up with his assertions after the proposed alliance between his 15-month-old party and the ruling Congress remained stillborn. Chiranjeevi reacted rather angrily to the suggestion made by some Congress leaders, including agriculture minister N Raghuveera Reddy, that it would be better if the PRP merged with the national party. “Such suggestions only indicate that the Congress has weakened. But we shall never entertain such thoughts,” Chiranjeevi added.
Questioned on what basis the PRP sought to align with the Congress for the elections to Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, he said it was only to ensure total development of Hyderabad city. “Not that our philosophies are same but our focus is on the total development of the state capital. Hence we wanted to come together for the GHMC polls,” Chiranjeevi observed.
He, however, was highly critical of the Congress for neglecting the development of Hyderabad in the last five years. “Hyderabad has become out of bounds for common people and it has become a haven only for the rich. The situation has so worsened that the common man cannot even afford to buy even a square yard of land,” the PRP chief pointed out.
Then why did the PRP crave for an alliance with such party, Chiranjeevi was asked. “There is a bit of optimism that at least now something will be done for the betterment of the city. We thought the ruling party would correct its mistakes and contribute to the development of the city,” he noted.
By talking such nonsense, Chiranjeevi has yet again exposed his political naiveté.
By now he should have understood pretty well that people are no longer ready to buy his claims. People are wise enough to know what exactly is happening in the PRP and which way the party is heading.
Chiranjeevi also came up with an incredulous claim that none of the Congress leaders talked to him over the proposed alliance for the GHMC elections. Absolute trash.
Only the second rung leaders of his party had talks with the ruling party leadership, Chiranjeevi sought to explain. “It hasn’t actually come to me. But the Congress backed out following its internal turmoil,” he said.
Asked if the PRP would now adopt a soft approach towards the Congress, Chiranjeevi replied in the negative. “We will have no soft or friendly approach towards anyone,” he asserted.
PRP would align with like-minded parties in future “based on the situation and the need.”
At least don’t fool yourself, Mr Chiranjeevi.

A R Rahman's unfulfilled dream

DESARAJU SURYA
Hyderabad: There is a rather unknown thing about the one-and-only Alla Rakha Rahman, the great music director, who has accomplished many many things in his 17-year career thus far: his unfulfilled dream.
My idol was in Hyderabad today and during an interaction I asked him about his unfulfilled dream.
“I am great fan of ace director K Viswanath and wanted to work with him. Since he has stopped making films my dream could not come true,” Rahman revealed.
Viswanath is known for making classics like Sankarabharanam, Sagar Sangamam, Swatimutyam (Easwar in Hindi) and Swarnakamalam that glorified the Indian art forms and traditions.
Sankarabharanam, the story of a classical musician, won many national awards for the music score composed by the legendary K V Mahadevan.
Rahman – who produced music of all varieties from the local to the international level – wanted to compose music on the lines of Sankarabharanam and requested Viswanath to make yet another film on Indian classical music.
Rahman also approached the great lyric-writer Veturi Sundararama Murthy to pen the lyrics. Veturi wrote the songs for Sankarabharanam, which will remain forever in the memory of all Telugu film-goers and music aficionados.
Rahman wanted to recreate that magic using the Viswanath-Veturi combination and blending it with his immense talent.
Viswanath, however, turned down the proposal saying there were no takers for his kind of films anymore.
Veturi himself told me about this a few years ago during an informal discussion on film music, Rahman, Maniratnam, Viswanath and related things.
“That was eight years ago and the project never materialized. Since then I have moved to other things,” Rahman told reporters here today.
Would he still like to do a classical music score? “Hopefully so,” the maestro replied.
Being a composer, singer and performer, which role was he comfortable in, Rahman was asked. “It’s the uncomfortableness in you that helps do things better. The more discomforted you are, the more you push yourself,” he replied.
The Oscar-winner has just completed music production for a romantic comedy Couple’s Retreat in Hollywood and is working on Vinnaithandi Varuvaya in Tamil, Puli (Pavan Kalyan) and another untitled film (starring Naga Chaitanya) in Telugu.
Rahman will be performing live, for the second time in Hyderabad, on October 24. It was in February 2002 that he gave a live performance at the GMC Balayogi Stadium at Gachibowli and I came from Vijayawada especially for the show. It was a great evening and the most memorable one in my life.
This time, however, I will unfortunately be missing the legend’s show.

"Indian population an admixture"

DESARAJU SURYA
Hyderabad: A new research which scientists say “rewrites history” has established that Indian populations are an “admixture” of two ancestral populations that are joined by an “invisible thread.” Scientists from Hyderabad-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Harvard Medical School, Harvard School of Public Health and the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, USA, have collaborated for this research project, which is said to be the “first and largest-ever genome-scale analysis of diverse Indian groups.” “Barring the Andamanese, the present Indian population is a mixture of Ancestral North Indian (ANI) and Ancestral South Indian (ASI). The implication of this study is that India is not one population and we are a nation of multiple populations,” former director of CCMB Lalji Singh, who is part of the research team, has said. Releasing the findings of the study, along with fellow researcher Kumarasamy Thangaraj and CCMB acting director Veena K Parnaik, Lalji Singh said the genomic analyses revealed two ancestral populations – ANI and ASI. Results of the research were published in the latest issue of international science journal Nature. There were 4635 well-defined populations in India, including 532 tribes and 72 primitive tribes. “Different Indian groups have inherited 40 to 80 per cent of their ancestry from a population that we call the ANI who are related to western Eurasians and the rest from the AIS who are not related to any group outside India,” Lalji Singh explained. This applied to traditional tribes as well as castes, he added. “The caste system in India has not been created by the British as blamed. It’s there for ages,” he pointed out. Lalji observed that the so-called “Aryans” did not come from outside. “They are within India. Our study doesn’t support the theory formulated by Max Mueller,” he added. He also noted that Aryans and Dravidians were part of the same culture. “We need not speak of them separately.” There was strongest evidence that tribes in north India have similarities with Europeans while the north-east population has similarities with China. Lalji said the research team analysed more than five lakh genetic markers across the genomes of 132 individuals from 25 diverse groups representing 13 states and all six language families. “The largest objective of the present study is to prevent genetic disorders among Indians. In future, we would try to trace the exact divergence times of ANI and ASI and also how India populated many other countries. Those results will be out in a few more years,” Lalji Singh said. David Reich of Harvard Medical School, Nick Patterson and Alkes L Price of Broad Institute of Harvard were also part of the research team.

Growing jitters in YSR administration

DESARAJU SURYA
Hyderabad: The Government of India’s move to enact the National Food Security Act is causing jitters in the Andhra Pradesh government.
For, it may not only lose huge quantities of rice and other commodities under the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) but will also be forced to cut down heavily on its populist welfare schemes, what with the gross scaling down of number of below poverty line (BPL) families in accordance with the Planning Commission of India norms.
Now, taking a cue from Bihar, the state government has shot off a missive today to the Centre objecting to the “artificially low number of BPL families fixed by the Government of India.” AP has also opposed the “ceiling” on the number of BPL families as stipulated by the Planning Commission.
Andhra Pradesh currently has a ridiculous number of 2.20 crore BPL cards through which it has been supplying three lakh tonnes of rice at a highly-subsidised price of Rs 2-a-kg, with the subsidy bill crossing over Rs 4000 crore this year.
Moreover, the government has promised to increase the rice distribution from 20 kgs per family to 30 kgs from October and proportionately the rice requirement too will shoot up.
The state government it self admitted that of the 2.20 crore cards, more than 65 lakh could be bogus. Though it promised to weed out the bogus ration cards, the Y S Rajasekhara Reddy is yet to initiate any action in this regard.
The Planning Commissioner, however, estimated the BPL families in AP to be around 41 lakh only. The Planning Commission’s estimate will form the basis for rice allocation from the Centre to the state under the proposed NFSA and this will result in a drastic cut in the allocation. “Our fear is that we may end up receiving not more than 50,000 tonnes if the number of BPL families is fixed at 41 lakh. This will result in a chaos as we will not be in a position to supply rice to all,” a top government source pointed out.
The Centre has circulated a concept note on the proposed NFSA to all states in which it mentioned that the “presently accepted number of BPL families” across the country is just 6.52 crore.
The state government has disputed this claim and noted that the number of BPL families fixed by the Government of India is “artificially low.”
It quoted the Arjun Sengupta Committee’s report to justify the high number of BPL families in the state and wanted the Centre to rework its estimates. “Given the ground realities, the state’s estimates on BPL families cannot be overlooked at any cost,” the AP government reportedly said in the letter to the Centre.

With age changes YSR's mind

DESARAJU SURYA
Hyderabad: Being in power for the past five years, and the possibility that he could set a record of being the longest-serving Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, probably is making Y S Rajasekhara Reddy to amend his thoughts. For, he no longer believes that 60 is the age for politicians to retire. “When I was 50 years old, I thought 60 was the age for retirement. But now I don’t subscribe to that,” Rajasekhara Reddy – who completed 100 days as Chief Minister in his second successive stint -- said in an informal interaction with journalists in the state Assembly today. “People have now started calling me a fitness freak and thus things have changed,” he remarked. Rajasekhara Reddy celebrated his 60th birthday on July 8 this year. He would become the largest-serving Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh if he completes his second full term till May 2014, thus beating his bête noire N Chandrababu Naidu’s record of eight years and nine months.

Nitish Kumar turns BIHAR into a model state

DESARAJU SURYA
Hyderabad: From a state that had been a synonym for maladministration, Bihar has now emerged as a role model for other states in the country through its “Aapki Sarkar – Aapke Dwaar” programme.
The Government of India has asked nine states that are affected by Left-wing extremism (naxalite menace) to “adopt” Bihar’s novel initiative of providing essential services to people in gram panchayats through a convergence model within a composite campus.
“Every Panchayat should, as is being done under “Aapki Sarkar Aapke
Dwaar” programme of Bihar, provide important essential services such as Public Distribution System, health, banking, NREGS office, post office, police station, residential quarters, etc. “in one secure compound” by convergence of the existing programmes through integrated participatory plans. This is needed urgently in at least the 33 most extremist-affected districts,” the Union Panchayati Raj Ministry said in a recent circular to Chief Secretaries of nine extremist-affected states.
Funds for setting up the composite campuses with buildings would be provided under the BRGF and the respective Central and state schemes, on the pattern of “Aapki Sarkar Aapke Dwaar” of Bihar, the Ministry added.
The Centre has identified 76 districts in nine states as extremist-affected, including 33 most affected districts, with the outlawed Maoists forming a “Naxal Corridor.”
The nine states are Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Orissa, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
The Union Ministry pointed out that “weak governance structures and weakness of the local administration” are both “the cause and the effect” of Left-wing extremism. It wanted the affected states to improve quality of governance and service delivery by delegating sufficient administrative and financial powers to the panchayat raj institutions.
Solution to the Left-wing extremism lied in ensuring “people-centric good governance, adopting participatory and holistic approach to development, planning and implementation (which also addresses issues of agricultural productivity, livelihood opportunities & skills), innovative use of Backward Regions Growth Fund grants to address the specific local problems, updating and computerizing land records including forest land & Common Property Resources and adopting an integrated strategy for tackling development and security challenges,” the Ministry noted.
While 67 out of 76 extremist-affected districts were initially included under BRGF, the remaining districts were being included now for financial assistance. Of the total, 43 extremist-affected districts would get Rs 20 crore each under BRGF and 33 most-affected districts would get Rs 40 crore each after the GoI doubled the grants.
The Ministry also suggested formulation of guidelines for reviving and strengthening the Chowkidari system as the effective bridge between the Community and the Police. “The role of community policing needs to be strengthened through the mechanism of gram sabha, while the Ministry of Home Affairs is operating a scheme for filling the deficiencies in police infrastructure,” the PR Ministry said.

Chiranjeevi's anguish

DESARAJU SURYA

Hyderabad: With questions being raised over the party’s survival less than a week ahead of its first anniversary, Praja Rajyam chief K Chiranjeevi has asserted that no force, except the people, could eliminate his outfit. Expressing serious anguish over reports in a section of the vernacular media that the PRP might soon be merged with the ruling Congress party, Chiranjeevi said such “fabricated stories” were part of a “deep-rooted conspiracy” by two newspapers on behalf of a political party. The PRP chief maintained that staying neutral was his political agenda. “How can I be close to either the Congress or the TDP and how many times should I prove my neutrality,” Chiranjeevi wondered. “The party (Telugu Desam) sees us (PRP) as an obstacle in its path to power. Hence this baseless and false campaign against us,” Chiranjeevi alleged. It was neither for the TDP nor the two newspapers to decide whether or not the PRP should exist, Chiranjeevi pointed out, adding that the people were the ultimate judges in this regard. “I am proud that 70 lakh voters of the state have solidly backed us in the recent elections. It is not even hundred days since the verdict has been delivered but efforts are on in full swing to bury the PRP,” Chiranjeevi lamented. The actor-turned-politician reiterated that he was into politics with a plain heart and a single-point agenda of serving the people. Asked how he planned to counter the political conspiracy, Chiranjeevi said: “By taking up people’s cause and fighting for them.”

A day earlier, Chiranjeevi was taken aback by a “sustained campaign” about the possible desertion of his party MLAs to other camps, notably the ruling Congress. But he asserted that all the 18 legislators were “solidly behind me.” “I am perplexed why the media is going to town daily with reports that PRP MLAs are likely to jump into other parties. The media seems to be specifically targeting MLAs from one district per day. None of the reports is true and all the MLAs are very much with me,” Chiranjeevi said. He quipped that the vernacular newspapers might well carry a story saying he too would be switching over to some other party one day. The PRP was being deliberately targeted by the media with the only intention of weakening it, he felt. “But people of the state are solidly behind me. History will be re-written if I undertake a complete tour of the state. I will take PRP to the number one position in the next four and a half years,” Chiranjeevi vowed. Maintaining that he did not float the Praja Rajyam Party with any political ambitions or vested interests, Chiranjeevi stressed that serving the people was his only agenda.

'Fab'ulous dreams lie shattered

DESARAJU SURYA
Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh’s dream of emerging as the largest cluster of semiconductor manufacturing units suffered yet another jolt with the promoters of the Rs 2500 crore semiconductor fab unit backing out of the project. The promoters – Nano-Tech Silicon India Private Limited – have merged their company with TF Solar Power Private Limited to develop a thin film solar cell fab project instead of the semiconductor fab unit. Of course, both the companies are promoted by June Min and he informed the AP Industrial Infrastructure Corporation, the nodal agency for implementing the Fab City project, that efforts to set up the semiconductor fab unit in India “have not materialized” and hence the merger. Left with no other option, the Andhra Pradesh government has approved the merger and issued an order allotting 50 acres of land at the so-called Fab City to the new entity. The land, which was earlier allotted free-of-cost, has now been leased at a premium of Rs 10 lakh per acre and a two per cent lease rental for 33 years. The concessions extended to Nano-Tech Silicon India for setting up the semiconductor fab unit have also been revoked since the project has not been taken up. The Andhra Pradesh government conceived the Fab City project as the largest cluster of semi-conductor manufacturing units in the country. SemIndia group, which has been allotted 100 acres at the Fab City was the first one to back out, citing “worldwide downturn in semi-conductor manufacturing.” Now, some companies have come forward to set up photovoltaic or solar cell units that are smaller in size. Companies like XL Telecom and Energy, KSK Surya Photovoltaic Ventures, Solar Semiconductor and Surana Ventures Ltd. are setting up these units while some other companies are also ready to step in. “The long gestation period, coupled with high costs of establishment, has been keeping promoters away from the semiconductor units given the current financial slowdown across the world. While an investment of about 2 to 3 billion USD is required for a semiconductor manufacturing unit, a small investment of Rs 200 crore to Rs 300 crore is sufficient for setting up solar cell units,” officials pointed out. This is, however, not a comforting factor for the Y S Rajasekhara Reddy government which promised creation of lakhs of jobs through major projects like the Fab City. With major companies backing out of big ticket projects, the job potential in the state is drastically reduced.

AP to teach Disaster Management

DESARAJU SURYA
Hyderabad: Disaster management will form part of high school syllabus in Andhra Pradesh from the 2010-11 academic year.
The Disaster Management Department has requested the Director of School Education to include Disaster Management as a subject in classes VII to X in a phased manner from the next academic year. The course would cover nature and types of disasters, need for their management, challenges and precautions needed to be taken to mitigate the affects and related aspects, according to Commissioner for Disaster Management Dinesh Kumar.
“Education and communication in disaster management plays a pivotal role in creating awareness, mobilizing people and also helps in capacity building by transferring knowledge, skills and technique to the people. Disaster management as a part of the syllabus in school subjects invariably aims at providing children with knowledge, attitudes and skills so that they are equipped to contribute meaningfully towards the betterment and solve the problems of environment and also protect oneself,” Dinesh Kumar pointed out.
As a first step, the Disaster Management Department has asked the State Council of Education Research and Training (SCERT) to draft the curriculum for the course in consultation with experts from the National Council of Education Research and Training and Osmania University. Faculty from the University Grants Commission would also assist the team in drafting the curriculum.
“A series of workshops will be held at the A Madhava Reddy AP Academy of Rural Development here from August to identify the topics and develop the course content. Scope of the contents will be finalized by the experts and submitted to the government for approval,” a senior official in the Disaster Management Department said.
Andhra Pradesh would probably become the first state in the country to have Disaster Management as a subject in the school curriculum.

National Technical Research Organisation's facility in Hyderabad

DESARAJU SURYA
Hyderabad: More than two years after Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy made an announcement over the setting up of National Technical Research Organisation in Hyderabad, the Andhra Pradesh government has allotted 37.17 acres of land to the specialized technical intelligence agency of the country for setting up its Strategic Facility Centre in the state.
NTRO is an apex scientific organization functioning under the National Security Adviser in the Prime Minister's Office. It is engaged in development and deployment of systems for national security.
The state, Cabinet that met here two days ago, approved the proposal to hand over the land at Shamirpet in Ranga Reddy district to the apex organization, whose activities include aviation, remote sensing, data gathering and processing, cyber security, crypto systems, strategic hardware and software development and also strategic monitoring.
NTRO’s Strategic Facility Centre would come up at Shamirpet on the outskirts of Hyderabad, according to a Cabinet minister.
It was in May 2007 that the Chief Minister announced the setting up of NTRO in Hyderabad but it took over two years for the state government to allot required land for the project. “It is mostly due to procedural delays. But now everything has been cleared from our side,” the minister pointed out.
State government officials say the NTRO would have a catalytic effect on Information Technology establishments here by creating security-related professionals, products and services. The NTRO would also have a Disaster Recovery Centre as part of a national information repository exchange, the officials add.
A National Information Infrastructure Protection Centre will also be part of the NTRO. NIIPC, which is supposed to be India's first hi-tech critical infrastructure protection centre, will engage in research and development in information protection making use of the IT industry and educational institutions in Hyderabad. “This way, the NTRO centre will have a major catalytic effect on IT establishments in our state,” a senior official in the Chief Minister’s Office said.
The NTRO will also include the National Institute of Cryptology Research and Development (NICRD), a premier institute and first-of-its-kind in Asia. The NICRD will create a pool of experts in information security for industry and government. It will also design and develop encryption products for national security applications, government sources said. It will have state-of-the-art laboratories like simulation labs and digital fortress labs for financial security. It will have linkages with academic institutions and industries, the sources added.

Andhra Pradesh seeking alms

DESARAJU SURYA
Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh government is seeking alms with both hands, literally.
On one hand, the state is seeking an additional Rs 2,000 crore from the Government of India under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme and, on the other, is requesting “donors” to contribute a sum of Rs 54.90 crore to keep the programme going.
Ironically, the state boasts of earmarking a whopping Rs 4,800 crore for the NREGP in this year’s budget but is now looking towards donors to chip in with a sum of Rs 54.90 crore to run the programme itself.
Rural Development Principal Secretary K Raju wrote a letter to all district Collectors asking them to mobilize donations from “service-oriented” individuals\organisations to purchase work tools like crowbars and spades.
“It is necessary to supply 1000 crowbars and 1000 spades to 2000 labourers in a mandal at a cost of Rs five lakh. In order to ensure minimum wages to labourers, it is essential that productivity norms are maintained. District Water Management Authorities made sincere attempts to procure implements but have not been able to make them available due to various procurement related issues,” the Principal Secretary pointed out in the letter to the Collectors.
Since availability of adequate number of implements with the labour was one factor that influences productivity, the Collectors were asked to explore the possibilities of motivating “service-oriented” individuals\organisations to buy the implements in the open market and supply to the labourers as a “token of solidarity” with the toiling masses who were facing severe distress on account of the failed monsoon.
The NREGP is being implemented in 1098 out of the 1128 mandals in the state. At Rs five lakh per mandals, the crowbars and spades would cost a sum of Rs 54.90 crore for all the NREGP mandals.
“Demand for work under the NREGP has increased manifold because of the prevailing drought conditions in the state. We are required to start more works in tune with the demand and hence the demand for implements like crowbars and spades. Hence we are seeking donations from public for a noble cause,” a top official in the Rural Development Department said. By saving Rs 54.90 crore of government money, more people could be provided wage employment under the programme, he reasoned.
A district Collector remarked that the basic idea behind this was to “sensitise people” about the enormity of the situation and also the programme. “By making a contribution, donors may feel the empathy towards the distressed people,” the Collector observed.

The Maoists' fresh offensive

DESARAJU SURYA
Hyderabad: The deadly attack by the outlawed CPI (Maoists) on CRPF and police personnel in Chattisgarh a few days ago was the first major offensive launched in accordance with its Politburo resolution of “carrying out tactical counter-offensives and various forms of armed resistance and inflicting severe losses to the enemy forces.”
The Maoists’ Politburo that met twice in the last one month had vowed to step up its offensive in the Dandakaranya region, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, West Bengal and Maharashtra. It particularly singled out Chattisgarh for a “widespread, long-drawn and more bitter” battle “than the one against the British imperialist armies.”
While the first meeting of the Maoist Politburo was held on June 12 prior to the Centre’s ban on the outfit, the second meeting was held last week subsequent to the ban.
A copy of the latest Politburo resolution indicates that the Maoists have decided to launch a major “counter-offensive” strategy to defeat the Raman Singh government’s “intensified attack on the revolutionary movement.” The Rajnandgaon attack is seen as a first step in this direction.
The Maoists see a larger game plan in the acts of the Raman Singh government, with particular reference to the Maad region. They feel that the BJP government was out to suppress the revolutionary movement to promote capital investments by Americans in the region.
“Mittals, Tatas, Jindals, Essars and the like are offering huge funds for the suppression of the Maoists so as to swallow the entire mineral resources of the region without any hindrance. That is the rationale behind the proposed attack on Maad and the decision to create a blood-bath,” the Maoists’ Politburo pointed out.
“Maad is home to one of the oldest indigenous tribes known as Madia gonds, who have survived to this day preserving their way of life, culture and customs. The UPA government at the Centre and Raman Singh government in the state have drawn up a plan to create a reign of terror, burn and destroy tribal hamlets, and drive them out of the area to government-run camps as it had done in Dantewara and Bijapur. It is thus conspiring to vacate the Madia adivasis from the area thereby endangering the way of life, culture, customs and resources of one of the oldest surviving tribes of India,” it observed.
“To justify its proposed attack on Maad, the BJP government is propagating that Maad has become the military headquarters of the Maoists. The fascist Raman Singh government in the state, with the active assistance of the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre, had unleashed the notorious Salwa Judum by arming vigilante gangs since June 2005. And now it is itching to directly send police and Central forces into Maad and unleash similar terror in accordance with its policy of ‘Loot all, kill all and destroy all,’” the Politburo alleged.
A blue-print for a massive military offensive was prepared by the Centre for gaining an upper-hand over the Maoists. “The scanning of the entire area by satellites is almost on the verge of completion and the satellite images and the concrete topographical map of entire Maad will be ready soon. Based on this map -- complete with all hamlets, forest tracks, water points, etc. -- the police and Central forces will carry out their operations. They are also claiming that preparations are on to check the retreat of Maoist guerrillas into neighbouring areas in Jharkhand and Orissa,” the Politburo cautioned its cadres.
The Maoists are also wary of the fact that “never before was such a degree of coordination and cooperation achieved between the Centre and the states on the Naxal issue.”
“The warning signals are clear: the Maoists are fully geared up and will carry out their attacks with vigour. Going by their previous record, the Maoists will endeavour to implement the Politburo resolutions by all means and hence we should be prepared with a counter strategy,” a top police official involved in the anti-naxal operations remarked.

New policy for street vending

DESARAJU SURYA
Hyderabad: You may be selling bananas, paav-bhaji, cosmetics, cigarettes, clothes or just about anything else either on a push-cart going round the streets or by simply standing on the wayside. Now, you will no longer be called a “street vendor” as the Government of India is all set to give you a new designation: “micro-entrepreneur.”
The National Policy on Urban Street Vendors, 2009, approved by the Manmohan Singh government, recognizes street vendors (or micro-entrepreneurs) as “an integral and legitimate part of the urban retail trade and distribution system.”
The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation also drafted the Street Vendors (Potection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Bill, 2009, and forwarded it to the state governments for enacting local legislations “to provide for protection of livelihood of urban street vendors and regulate street vending.”
The Union government has asked the state governments to enact legislation for regulating street vending in tune with the national policy.
While street vending is increasingly seen as a major menace in urban areas compounding the traffic problems, the national policy aims at giving street vendors a legal status and providing legitimate vending/hawking zones in city/town master or development plans. Each street vendor will be registered under the aegis of a Town Vending Committee, headed by the respective municipal commissioner, and given an identity card with a code number and category.
Though a similar policy on street vendors was brought out during the erstwhile NDA regime, the UPA government “re-looked” it since “that was found to be not practical.”
“It is estimated that in many cities street vendors account for about two per cent of the population. Women constitute a large segment of these street vendors in almost every city. Street vending is not only a source of self-employment to the poor in cities and towns but also a means to provide ‘affordable’ as well as ‘convenient’ services to a majority of the urban population,” the policy notes.
The revised policy was brought out after due consultations with all the stake-holders. This is a progressive policy, in that it addresses issues like social security, institutional finance and housing related to the street vendors. In fact, the policy has tried to give a new definition to the so-called street vending, making it more respectable.
The 2009 policy notes: “As the street vendors assist the government in combating unemployment and poverty, it is the duty of the state to protect the right of these micro-entrepreneurs to earn an honest living.” The policy has been conceived as part of a major national initiative towards alleviation of poverty in urban areas.
The spatial planning for earmarking vending zones will be done through photographic digitalized surveys of street vendors and their locations while a comprehensive digitalized photo census / survey / GIS mapping of the existing stationary vendors will also be undertaken for granting the lease. However, each street vendor will be allowed to carry out his business at a designated place only for a period of 20 years.
Other important initiatives under the 2009 policy include: providing access to credit, skill development, housing, social security and capacity building for street vendors.
“Street vendors, being micro entrepreneurs, should be provided with vocational education and training and entrepreneurial development skills to upgrade their technical and business potential so as to increase their income levels as well as to look for more remunerative alternatives,“ the policy says.

Passenger cars to be 'star' rated in India

DESARAJU SURYA
Hyderabad: Passenger cars in India will soon have to carry a “star label” indicating their fuel efficiency. The Bureau of Energy Efficiency, a body under the Union Power Ministry, has included passenger cars in a list of 21 products that are necessarily required to carry the star label for energy efficiency by 2011. “Passenger car is categorized as an ‘equipment’ under the Energy Conservation Act, 2001. Hence, it is required to carry a star label (1-5 stars) indicating the fuel efficiency,” energy economist in the Bureau of Energy Efficiency Sandeep Garg said. “No exact timeline has been fixed for this though we intend to bring 21 products into the star labelling scheme by the year 2011,” Garg said. Star labelling for energy efficiency also becomes mandatory for air-conditioners, refrigerators, power distribution transformers and tube lights (TFL) from January 1, 2010. From then, these electrical appliances will be required to carry a label indicating the power consumption details and efficiency as per the Energy Conservation Act, according to Garg. Washing machines, computer monitors, kerosene stoves, microwave ovens, uninterrupted power supply systems and consumer electronic items would also be required to carry star labelling under the Standards and Labelling procedure. Only six states – Karnataka, Uttaranchal, Gujarat, Chattisgarh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh – have made it mandatory to buy only three-star rated power distribution transformers. “Our objective is to save at least 10,000 MW of power by the end of the XI Five Year Plan period by enforcing energy efficiency measures, mostly on the demand side. We could save 2104.1 MW of power in 2008-09, compared to only 623.1 MW the previous year. All this has come about with a series of energy efficiency measures we have put in place,” the energy economist explained. He said discussions were on with manufacturers for labeling high-end products like LCD and Plasma television sets and also set-top boxes. Even mobile chargers could require a star label in the near future. “The bigger the size of an LCD\Plasma TV, the higher is the power consumption and the resultant power bill. Hence, the need for star rating and labelling,” Sandeep pointed out. He also said the BEE has mooted a differential tax system for star-rated products. “A five-star rated appliance should have a zero per cent tax while a 4-12 per cent tax could be imposed on those rated between 4 and 1. Since a lesser taxed product benefits them, consumers will go for a better rated one and thereby push the demand for star labelling,” he reasoned.

Vijayawada BRTS may be ready in 2010

DESARAJU SURYA
Looks like the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) will become operational in Vijayawada only early 2010.
Necessary infrastructure for the BRTS like roads and bridges is still being built and many structures will be ready only towards the end of this year, if everything moves in accordance with the plans of the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation.
Initially, the VMC wanted to operationalise the first phase of BRTS in February 2009 but necessary infrastructure was not ready by then, forcing the authorities to put off their plans.
Now, a new bridge is under construction at Seetannapeta across the Eluru canal while one more bridge is coming up at Madhuranagar on the Ryves canal. The Madhuranagar bridge will be ready only next year and from there a 90 feet road will be laid connecting the Eluru Road.
A subway has been planned at Krishna Lanka beneath the National Highway-9 connecting Raghavaiah Park on the Mahatma Gandhi road. A foot-over-bridge will be built at Veterinary Hospital junction and another at the Ramavarappadu Ring Road for the convenience of passengers.
The VMC is planning to buy 10 specially-designed air-conditioned buses and 30 normal buses for BRTS operations. A model bus stop is being built at Satyanarayanapuram which will have an automatic ticket vending machine installed in it.
For now, the VMC authorities are tightlipped about the exact date from which the BRTS buses will start running.
Plans are also afoot to float a Special Purpose Vehicle for the BRTS operations. The SPV will be headed by the district Collector with Vijayawada police commissioner, municipal commissioner, Urban Development Authority vice-chairman and other officials as members.
The first phase of the BRTS project covers a distance of 15.5 km. The road – which is meant to be an exclusive BRTS corridor – connecting the GS Raju Road and Madhuranagar is almost ready now. The old Satyanarayanapuram railway track has been converted into the BRTS road now.The first phase Green Corridor will have 31 bus stops – each at a distance of 500 mts and 17 traffic junctions. The signalling system which is the key to ensuring a smooth ride for BRTS buses is still not in place. Of the 15.5 km Green Corridor, only a 11-km stretch has a clear way for BRTS buses while the balance portion will have mixed traffic. The Rs 152.64 crore BRTS project, taken up under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), will make Vijayawada the fourth city in the country after Indore, Pune and Ahmedabad and the first in south India to have such a better urban public transport system. BRTS, an environment-friendly and cost-effective urban public transport system, is an alternative between ‘unreliable’ conventional bus transport and the high-cost metro rail. Usually, it is also referred to as the ‘surface metro’ system that has a dedicated right-of-way on prime roads enabling high operating speeds. In Vijayawada, BRTS is being introduced on a pilot basis along the 15.5-km ‘Green Corridor’: from the police control room to the railway station, Satyanarayanapuram, Eluru Road, Ring Road, Benz Circle, Mahatma Gandhi Road and back to PCR. The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation plans to introduce exclusive BRTS buses, each costing Rs 40 lakh, in the later stages. Though the state government approved the proposal to form the Vijayawada Metropolitan Transport Authority for operating the BRTS, it hasn’t been put in place.

Farmers' suicides in Andhra Pradesh

DESARAJU SURYA
Hyderabad: For the first time since he became Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Y S Rajasekhara Reddy came out with the revelation about farmers' suicides in the state.
He finally admitted that as many as 2890 farmers committed suicide in the state since May 2004 when he took over reigns for the first time.
“We have taken every possible measure to help the farmers. But obviously their lot has not changed for the better,” the Chief Minister said.
“All along, we have been thinking only about improving agriculture production and productivity and not about improving farmers’ income. This left the farmers depressed,” the Chief Minister pointed out, while analyzing the reason for suicides.
Andhra Pradesh ranked only next to Maharashtra in the number of farmers’ suicides.
Rajasekhara Reddy recalled the assurance he had given to farmers while taking charge as the Chief Minister for the first time on May 14, 2004. “From today, not a single farmer in the state will be forced to commit suicide for whatever reason. This is a farmer-friendly government and we will take every step to improve your conditions,” Rajasekhara Reddy promised even as he signed the first file offering free power supply to the agriculture sector.
Now, the Chief Minister revealed that 1031 farmers committed suicide between May and December 2004.
“This was largely because of the earlier impact when thousands of farmers ended their lives during the Telugu Desam Party rule. However, the number of suicides fell to 631 in 2005, 530 in 2006, 427 in 2007 and 267 in 2008. This year, the number came down to a mere four till May,” the Chief Minister said and rebutted opposition criticism that more than 7500 farmers committed suicide under his regime.
Rajasekhara Reddy claimed that every possible measure was taken to prevent farmers’ suicides. A special economic package was offered to the kin of farmers who ended their lives while their debts were also rescheduled. The loan waiver announced by the Government of India also benefited the farmers while the state government too offered a Rs 5000 incentive to those who promptly repaid the loans.
Besides, the state government’s free power supply scheme helped each farmer save Rs 15,000 per year.
All these claims, however, proved hollow, given the fact that so many had to end their lives. SHAME!

"Neither the TDP lost nor the Congress won the AP elections"

Hyderabad: Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu has said the Congress managed to retain power in Andhra Pradesh only “by default” as 63.22 per cent of the electorate “rejected” it.
“Clearly, people did not give their mandate for Y S Rajasekhara Reddy or the Congress in the state. They wanted the TDP back but the Grand Alliance lost the race by a margin of just 1.76 per cent votes. While the Congress polled 36.78 per cent votes, the Grand Alliance (TDP-TRS-CPM-CPI) got 35.2 per cent.
Two-thirds of the voters rejected the Congress while only one-third favoured it in the recent Assembly elections,” Chandrababu noted, analysing the poll results at the TDP’s two-day annual conference Mahanadu.
Had it been a mandate for the Congress in the state, the party should have got 231 Assembly seats, going by the 33 Lok Sabha seats it won here. It, however, managed only 156 seats, a slender margin over the magic figure of 148, the TDP chief pointed out.
“There was no positive vote for the Congress and it retained power not on merit but only by default,” he added.
He said there was a gross split in the opposition votes which prevented TDP’s return to power. The Praja Rajyam Party of actor Chiranjeevi did the main damage, securing 16.22 per cent votes and 18 seats.
“The Grand Alliance could not achieve results as expected but the Congress is certainly not a winner. We have emerged stronger, increasing our tally from 47 in 2004 to 92 now,” Chandrababu elaborated and promised to play a constructive role as the principal opposition party.
“We shall be uncompromising on issues of people’s concern. Our relentless struggle against corruption will continue,” the TDP chief asserted.
Maintaining that the TDP was not opposed to construction of irrigation projects in the state, Chandrababu said they were only opposed to the large-scale corruption in execution of the projects. He wanted the state government to complete the projects in a time-bound manner.
He said the TDP was committed to the promise of cash transfer scheme for the poor and promised to implement it whenever the party was elected to power in future.
While promising his party’s total support for reservations for women in legislatures, Chandrababu demanded that the Centre enact a legislation in this regard without delay.

Sabita Indra Reddy: A unique distinction

DESARAJU SURYA

Hyderabad: She is popularly called “Chevella Chellemma” ever since she became Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy’s “adopted sister.”
Patlolla Sabita Indra Reddy, 46, has in fact become Rajasekhara Reddy’s sentimental “good omen” and he invariably begins all his programmes from Chevella, her hometown. It was from Chevella that Rajasekhara Reddy launched his 1450-km padayatra (foot march) in 2003 and went on to become the state Chief Minister in 2004. Ever since, Chevella has become his favourite place for launching all his programmes and Sabita thus became his adopted sister “Chevella Chellamma.”
Now, he has elevated her to the state home minister’s position, making her the first woman to occupy that coveted post. However, as in the past, the crucial law and order subject will be handled by the Chief Minister himself and not the home minister. Sabita will get to handle general police administration, jails and correctional services, fire and emergency services and sainik welfare as home minister.
“It’s so thrilling that I have become the home minister, a post once held by my late husband Indra Reddy. I am extremely thankful to the Chief Minister for this,” a visibly ecstatic Sabita remarked as news broke of her appointment.
Sabita was first elected to the state Assembly in the year 2000 in a bye-election from Chevella constituency in Ranga Reddy district following the death of her husband Indra Reddy in a road accident. Indra Reddy was the home minister in N T Rama Rao’s Cabinet during 1994-95. She was subsequently re-elected from the same constituency in 2004 and made the minister for information technology, mines and infrastructure. In 2007 she was made the minister for mines and geology, handlooms and textiles in the Cabinet reshuffle.
In this year’s election, Sabita was elected from Maheshwaram constituency as Chevella became a reserved segment in the delimitation.
“I have never imagined even in my dream that I will be made the home minister. This only showed the Chief Minister’s faith in a woman’s capability. I shall live up to his expectations and discharge my duties efficiently,” Sabita said.
Curbing terrorism and crimes on women would be her top priority, she said, adding that the law and order situation was well under control in the state over the last five years. She complimented the state police for “doing a wonderful job” in the last five years.

A Poor Workman Blames His Tools

DESARAJU SURYA
Hyderabad: “A poor workman blames his tools,” it is said. Chiranjeevi has turned out to be the poor workman now.
In his 30-year-long filmy career, Chiranjeevi rose from the ranks to become the Megastar in the Telugu film industry and, in the process, won the hearts of crores of Telugu people.
But when he launched his Praja Rajyam Party and wanted to become the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, people have rejected him outrightly. Elections-2009 made this amply clear.
It was a bitter pill for him to swallow, though he has been desperately trying to put on a brave face saying: “Playing the game is important, not whether we won or lost.”
Now, he has gone a step further and gave a rather ludicrous reason for the PRP’s electoral drubbing.
The “rail engine” symbol – allotted by the Election Commission -- proved to be the PRP’s nemesis in the recent Assembly and Lok Sabha elections, Chiranjeevi sought to reason.
“The rail engine symbol looked too tiny on the electronic voting machines that the voters could not recognize it. Symbols like loaf of bread, road-roller, bulldozer, tent and tractor looked large enough for the voters to easily identify. So they did not vote for PRP,” Chiranjeevi said.
Chiranjeevi’s claim is absolutely absurd. Indian voters, even if many of them are illiterate, are wise enough. Every political party and political leader will acknowledge that and never question the voters’ wisdom.
Now, if one is keen on voting for the PRP, he will certainly search for the party’s symbol carefully on either the electronic voting machine or the ballot paper and mark his choice. It is not at all a difficult task for the voter.
To say that the voters could not identify the rail engine on the EVM and hence voted on other symbols is utterly nonsensical and rubbish.
Chiranjeevi has made a fool of himself by making such claim. It grossly exposed how naïve he is.
Soon after he made the claim about the election symbol, I asked Chiranjeevi what were the lessons he learnt in the nine months of his political career, particularly after the PRP’s rout in the elections. “Everything has been a lesson for me. Every day teaches me a lesson. Even the loss in elections is a lesson in itself and I take it as my guru,” he replied. His assertion smacked of only arrogance and didn’t sound truthful.
Hopefully, the coming days would teach him better lessons and help him grow wiser, at least apparently.
Chiranjeevi also spoke of changing his party’s election symbol now that it becomes a “recognized” political party as per law. But can he change voters’ minds and hearts is the big question.

"When TV channels left YSR perturbed"

DESARAJU SURYA
Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy is normally as cool as cucumber, one who hardly gets worked up.
May 16, however, was different. For more than two hours on the day of counting of votes, anxiety was writ large on his face and Rajasekhara Reddy looked every bit tensed up.
For, the Telugu news television channels constantly put the TDP-led Grand Alliance in the lead as trends started coming in from various constituencies.
“Almost all channels showed that the Grand Alliance was leading in 138 constituencies and gave just 120 for the Congress. So, the normally cool Chief Minister started getting tensed up,” a close aide of Rajasekhara Reddy said.
As tension started mounting, Rajasekhara Reddy constantly chewed Gelusil antacid tablets and, at one point, was found biting two tablets at the same time. “The television channels have perturbed the unperturbed. We have never seen him so worked up in the last five years, even when he faced odds,” the aide pointed out.
The Chief Minister chose to ignore the projections coming on the television channel owned by his son because “it will anyway show us in the lead.” At one stage, Rajasekhara Reddy reportedly warned his channel people to “give a true picture.”
On the other hand, the CMO officials and staff who were waiting for the “moment” to burst crackers in jubilation, too remained bewildered. They had specially brought a 10,000-wallah cracker from Vijayawada for the celebration “but the moment seemed to have eluded us for a while.”
It was only around 11.40 am that Rajasekhara Reddy got the first indication that he would indeed be retaining power. “By 12 noon, it became very much clear that the Congress will retain power without any support from others. Only then did the Chief Minister regain composure,” a highly-placed official in the Chief Minister’s Office said. Thereafter, crackers were burst and sweets were distributed in celebration.
However, Rajasekhara Reddy is still “disappointed” that the Congress did not end up with a tally of 180 seats in the 294-member AP Assembly.

Telangana -- A distant dream now

Desaraju Surya
Hyderabad: Creation of Telangana state will now be a distant dream, now that Y S Rajasekhara Reddy has become the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh once again.
The Congress high command will only toe Rajasekhara Reddy’s line on the contentious issue – as it happened in the last five years -- and it is unlikely to be any different now. As is widely known, Rajasekhara Reddy is “personally” opposed to the division of Andhra Pradesh.
Though the Congress returned to power in Andhra Pradesh in 2004 with the promise of creating a separate Telangana state, Rajasekhara Reddy ensured that the issue did not move forward beyond the customary talk on “respecting the sentiments of people of the region.” The UPA government constituted a committee headed by Pranab Mukherjee to look into the demand for Telangana state and possibly arrive at a consensus on bifurcation of the state. It took more than four years for the three-member committee to make out that there was no “consensus” on the issue despite the fact that all major and minor parties, barring the CPM had supported the demand. In fact, it was the Congress party that did not spell out its stand to the Pranab committee till it was quietly wound up. AICC president Sonia Gandhi always spoke only one word on the issue: “We are not opposed to Telangana.”
Of course, to ward off criticism that he became the stumbling block in the creation of Telangana, Rajasekhara Reddy too constituted a committee of legislators from the state Assembly and the Legislative Council on the very last day of the final session of the Legislature early this year to look into issues related to the creation of Telangana state. The committee, for all practical purposes, remains only on paper.
Now, with the Congress bagging 50 out of 119 Assembly seats and 12 out of 17 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana, it has become clear that people of the region did not buy the argument that the ruling party “betrayed” them on the separate statehood demand. Of course, the Congress suffered many setbacks in the region with some of its top heads falling in the electoral battle. Notable among them were Pradesh Congress Committee president D Srinivas, ministers G Chinna Reddy, T Jeevan Reddy, G Vinod, J Ratnakar Rao, Md Fareeduddin, D Redya Naik and senior leader Palvai Govardhan Reddy. D Srinivas, Chinna Reddy and Jeevan Reddy were in fact those who stirred up the Telangana sentiment way back in the year 2000 when the separatist TRS was not even born. Subsequently, they too fell in line with Rajasekhara Reddy and stayed quiet on the Telangana issue. Analysts were quick to note that their defeat was largely due to such topsy-turvy stance on a critical issue that was linked to the sentiments of the people.
Interestingly, Lok Sabha nominees like Madhu Yashki Goud in Nizamabad and Ponnam Prabhakar in Karimnagar came up trumps despite the Congress faring badly in the Assembly segments. Yashki has been one of the most vociferous on Telangana and a bitter critic of the Chief Minister on the separate statehood issue.
Rajasekhara Reddy, however, succeeded in silencing the Telangana vocalists in the Congress party by wielding his clout at the high command.
“As senior leaders we know what happened in the last five years on the Telangana issue. Now that he has enhanced the strength of MPs from the state, only Rajasekhara Reddy’s word will prevail on all matters and so we can’t think of Telangana happening any time in the future,” one senior MP from the state observed.

Chiranjeevi and his dreams

DESARAJU SURYA

Hyderabad: Chiranjeevi now has two dreams unfulfilled. As an actor he wanted to don the role of Shahid Bhagat Singh but that remained a dream in his 30-year career.

As a politician, his dream was to become the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. In his first attempt, however, he failed to realize that and will now have to wait for many years if he seriously intends to make the dream a reality.

Chiranjeevi played a villain, an anti-hero, lover boy, lawyer, dancer, ruffian, a Cowboy, politician, a sportsman, a thief, a cobbler, a murderer, professor, Lord Siva, IPS officer, industrialist, Charlie Chaplin, a woman and a host of other characters in the 148 films he has acted in, in a career spanning 30 years. 
But Bhagat Singh’s role was close to his heart as he adored the legendary freedom fighter.

Ever since he became an actor in 1978, Chiranjeevi wanted to don that role as Bhagat Singh was always his “inspiration.” Sometime after his first mighty hit Khaidi was released in late 1983, Chiranjeevi himself had stated this in an interview to a film magazine. Years passed and he gradually was caught in a rigid image frame which did not allow him to do off beat roles like Bhagat Singh. Hence, it remained an unrealized dream for Chiranjeevi. 
“Yes, it is certainly my dream role but I am unable to don it because of my current image. People are used to my dances and fights and Bhagat Singh’s role certainly doesn’t have scope for this. I doubt if my fans would accept me in that role, so I am hesitant to do Bhagat Singh,” Chiranjeevi once admitted. 
He was repentant but was equally helpless! A price he had to pay for being a Mega Star! 
Interestingly, Chiranjeevi never again spoke about his dream role as he acquired a larger-than-life image as an actor.

What happens to politician Chiranjeevi’s dream is a question which only the people of AP could decide.

Men vote more than women in AP

DESARAJU SURYA
Hyderabad: They outnumbered men in the electoral charts but, when it came to casting their votes, women turned up in fewer numbers than men in Andhra Pradesh in this year’s elections.
In both the phases of polling in the state on April 16 and 23, men voted in large numbers as compared to women.
Figures released by the state Chief Electoral Officer I V Subba Rao revealed that 73.64 per cent of the 2.86 crore male voters exercised their franchise while 70.90 per cent of the 2.92 crore females cast their votes. The overall polling percentage reported in the state was 72.26, indicating that 1,60,54,230 of the total 5,78,66,605 voters did not exercise their franchise in this elections, according to the CEO.
“The overall polling percentage in the state increased from 69.72 in 2004 general elections to 72.26 now,” Subba Rao added.
As compared to 2004, the percentage of women voters increased by 3.9 and men by just 1.6 per cent. In 2004, 67 per cent women and 72 per cent men cast their votes.
In Mahbubabad (ST) Lok Sabha constituency, where 78.23 per cent polling was recorded, men outnumbered women by more than 40 per cent with 6,20,077 casting their votes as against 3,69,468 women.
In 20 Lok Sabha segments spread across the state, however, the number of women who cast their votes was higher than men.
The state saw an increase of 60 lakh in the number of electors this year, majority of whom are first-timers. Interestingly, the number of votes polled increased by about 60 lakh as compared to 2004, indicating that youths exercised their franchise in strong numbers. This may cheer up political parties that targeted the youth as their prime vote bank followed by women. But with the percentage of women voters remaining less, the parties may feel the pinch in the final analysis.

GRAND ALLIANCE SET FOR A GRAND SHOW IN ANDHRA PRADESH

DESARAJU SURYA

Hyderabad: Political parties in Andhra Pradesh have started re-working their arithmetic and strategies for the second phase of elections on April 23, going by the polling percentage and trends in the first phase on April 16.

The ruling Congress is more worried after the first phase of polling as the TDP-led Grand Alliance has caused a certain dent to its prospects in the crucial Telangana region which has a majority of 117 seats in the 294-member state Assembly. Besides, the Congress has also lost much ground in the three north coastal Andhra districts contrary to initial expectations where the party was expected to do well.

The Grand Alliance looks set to win at least 90-100 seats out of the 154 Assembly constituencies that went to polls today, as per the trends available till late in the evening. Interestingly, the Praja Rajyam Party of actor Chiranjeevi, which was virtually written off in the Telangana region, is about to open its account by bagging a few seats particularly in Nizamabad and Adilabad districts. It also has hopes of winning one or two seats in Greater Hyderabad. In north coastal Andhra too, the PRP will bag at least 8-10 seats, as per the post-poll trends.

The Congress, on the other hand, should consider itself lucky if it gets over 30 seats from the first phase poll. In Telangana region in particular, the ruling party suffered a major blow because of its topsy-turvy stance on the separate statehood demand.

The MIM, which has a rather overt understanding with the Congress, is expected to improve its tally from the current five and that should be a consolation for the ruling party.

“The Congress stands no chance of winning as we will bag about 100 seats out of the first phase constituencies,” CPM state secretary B V Raghavulu claimed.

Similarly, of the 22 Lok Sabha constituencies that went to polls today, the Grand Alliance is the front-runner to bag at least 17. With the last minute efforts to win over the “rebels” bearing fruit, the PRP is confident of winning the Anakapalle Lok Sabha seat, where the party general secretary and Chiranjeevi’s brother-in-law Allu Aravind is the candidate.

Going by these trends, the parties are now busy re-working their strategies for the second phase polls in Andhra and Rayalaseema regions. The Grand Alliance has already created a positive impact with the promised Cash Transfer Scheme as its trump card. Besides, there are many negative factors working against the Congress like the forcible acquisition of thousands of acres of fertile land for the special economic zones, rampant corruption and the plight of the farmers who suffered heavily because of the fertilizer crisis as well as lack of remunerative prices.

In East and West Godavari districts, the PRP is sure to make a strong impact going by the caste equations and it will eat mostly into the Congress votes. This places the Grand Alliance in an advantageous position in the phase-2 as well.

Grand Alliance may maul Congress in Telangana

DESARAJU SURYA
Hyderabad: Odds are loaded heavily against the ruling Congress party as Andhra Pradesh goes for simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and Assembly in the first phase on April 16.
In the first phase, 22 Lok Sabha and 154 Assembly constituencies will go to polls on Thursday.
Though there is no anti-incumbency against the Y S Rajasekhara Reddy government, the coming together of the four main opposition parties – TDP, TRS, CPI and CPM – has dealt a certain blow to the Congress. New entrant Praja Rajyam Party of actor Chiranjeevi failed to capitalize on good openings as it faltered in the mid-course as well as towards the climax.
Its constant indifference on the contentious Telangana issue is going to prove costly for the Congress as it is set to lose majority of the 119 Assembly seats and 17 Lok Sabha seats in the region where polling is scheduled for Thursday.
The Congress is expected to win about 35-40 Assembly seats leaving the rest to the TDP-led Grand Alliance. PRP and BJP may have little impact to make in the region.
In the three north coastal Andhra districts where too polling will be held on Thursday for 35 Assembly and five Lok Sabha seats, the Congress and the Grand Alliance seem to be equally balanced though the latter has some edge over the former.
Fate of three Union ministers – S Jaipal Reddy, Renuka Choudary and Daggubati Purandeswari – will be decided in the first phase election. TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao, former Union ministers K Yerran Naidu, Bandaru Dattatreya, Ch Vidyasagar Rao, Assembly Speaker K R Suresh Reddy, APCC president D Srinivas, CPI national deputy secretary Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy, PRP leader T Devender Goud and a host of state ministers too are in the fray in the first leg.
Lok Satta Party president N Jayaprakash Narayan is facing elections for the first time from Kukatpally Assembly constituency in Greater Hyderabad. He is the favourite to win this seat in this election.
Of the three Union ministers, Renuka Choudary is facing a tough time in Khammam Lok Sabha constituency where, as per current indications, she is all set to lose. Despite moving to new constituencies, both Jaipal Reddy and Purandeswari are expected to have a smooth sailing. Chandrasekhar Rao is a favourite to win the Mahboobnagar Lok Sabha seat while Yerran Naidu and Dattatreya too are comfortably placed.
The Congress is solely banking on the individual benefit schemes like old-age pensions, housing and health insurance that it introduced in the last five years of its rule. The Grand Alliance, on the other hand, has pinned its hopes on the Cash Transfer Scheme, Youth Empowerment Scheme and other freebies promised by the Telugu Desam Party, which is desperately seeking to come back to power. Of course, by taking a clear stand on the Telangana issue the Grand Alliance has scored points over the Congress which continues to dodge the issue. Though it promised to create a “social Telangana”, the PRP could not cut much ice in the region. Besides, the allegations of ticket sale have left the nine-month-old party totally battered just ahead of the crucial elections.
The BJP, by promising to create a separate Telangana state in 100 days if the NDA is voted back to power at the Centre, is also desperate to regain lost glory in the region.
In north coastal Andhra, the PRP was seen an emerging force that could strongly mar the prospects of both the Congress and the Grand Alliance and bag a good number of seats given the mass appeal of Chiranjeevi as also the caste equations in the region. But the initial euphoria seemed to have died down as the actor’s party was left with a lot of egg on its face over the selection of candidates. The Grand Alliance has re-emerged strongly in districts like Srikakulam and Vizianagaram, where the TDP yielded lot of ground to the Congress in the last election. The widespread corruption charges against two ministers in these districts and the growing dominance of their families in the Congress have antagonized not only the common people but also the party rank and file. This could leave a telling impact on the outcome of the elections.

YSR: Crorepati-turned-Lakhpati!

DESARAJU SURYA
Hyderabad: The opposition parties may have branded him the “richest politician on earth” but Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara, by his own submission, has been reduced from a “crorepati” to a “lakhpati” in the last five years that he ruled the state. From Rs 3,02,56,662, his asset value shrunk to a mere Rs 33,33,365 in the last five years, according to the affidavit Rajasekhara Reddy has filed along with his nomination papers for the Pulivendula Assembly constituency in Kadapa district. His wife Vijayalaxmi’s assets too have witnessed a fall in the same period, but to a minor extent: from Rs 1,23,95,321 to Rs 1,01,43,122. According to the Chief Minister’s affidavit, he has only Rs 12,379 in cash, Rs 1,93,797 in bank deposits and savings of Rs 2,43,848. He holds shares and bonds worth Rs 1000 in AP Steels Limited and Rs 1000 in Leasefin India. He possesses gold and diamonds (594.500 grams) worth Rs 13,03,770. His income through claims and interest is Rs 2,02,256. Rajasekhara Reddy holds 39.52 acres of agriculture land in his native Idupulapaya worth Rs 4,78,065 and a residential building in Pulivendula worth Rs 8,97,250. He does not own a car nor does he have any loans or dues, the affidavit says. His wife Vijayalaxmi has Rs 31,069 in cash, two bank deposits worth Rs 40 lakh and 4,54,663, shares in Saraswati Power worth Rs 35.25 lakh, gold and diamonds (581.500 grams) worth Rs 10,57,890 and secures an income of Rs 10,74,500 through claims and interests. She doesn’t own agriculture land, a building or a car. All this is as per the 2009 estimates.
In 2004, Rajasekhara Reddy had Rs 1.10 lakh in cash and Rs 10,972 in bank deposits. He held shares worth Rs 1000 each in AP Scooters, AP Steels, Leasefin India, shares worth Rs 10,000 in Vijayalaxmi Barytes, Rs 12,15,000 in Diamond Softtech Pvt. Ltd, Rs 2,29,002 in Vijayalaxmi India Limited, Rs 10 lakh in Forest Plantation India Pvt. Limited and Rs one lakh in Raja Reddy Estates Pvt. Ltd. (all worth Rs 25,57,002). He had no savings in 2004 whereas he owned a building worth Rs 90 lakh on Road No. 2, Banjara Hills and another worth Rs 30 lakh in Pulivendula. He also owned an Ambassador car and a Tata Sierra which were subsequently sold out. He had 25 acres of agriculture land worth Rs 50 lakh at Settigunta in Railway Koduru mandal of Kadapa district and 6.65 acres of non-agriculture land at Pulivendula. He got Rs 2,13,873 through claims and interests in 2004 and also had a loan of Rs 1,97,900. His wife Vijayalaxmi had Rs 80,000 in cash and no bank deposits. She held shares total worth Rs 42,34,979 in four different companies and had gold worth Rs 25,25,225. She got Rs 15,65,117 through claims and interests and also owned 20 acres of land worth Rs 40 lakh in Pulivendula.

It's all in their blood

DESARAJU SURYA
Visakhapatnam: Y S Rajasekhara Reddy-Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, Chiranjeevi-Allu Aravind, K Chandrasekhar Rao-K T Rama Rao, Daggubati Purandeswari-Daggubati Venkateswara Rao, Asaduddin Owaisi-Akbaruddi Owaisi, Panabaka Lakshmi-Panabaka Krishnaiah….the list goes on. Two of the aforementioned are father-son duo, two are wife-husband, one is a duo of brothers and yet another is a brother-brother-in-law duo. Probably no other state in the country has such a long list of blood relatives seeking their political fortunes in not just one party but also across different parties.
Elections-2009 in Andhra Pradesh are witnessing many such people from the same family contesting the elections. In some cases, interestingly, the kin are directly fighting each other like in the case of former Union minister Ch Vidyasagar Rao of the BJP who is pitted against his nephew Chennamaneni Ramesh of the TDP from the Vemulavada Assembly segment. While Rajasekhara Reddy is contesting the Pulivendula Assembly seat, his son and industrialist Jaganmohan Reddy is seeking election for the first time from Kadapa Lok Sabha constituency which was earlier represented by the former. State housing minister Bosta Satyanarayana is in the race for Assembly from Chipurupalli Assembly segment while his better half Jhansi is seeking re-election from Vizianagaram Lok Sabha seat. Botsa’s younger brother Appala Narasaiah is also contesting the Gajapatinagaram Assembly seat while their nephew Appala Naidu is the Congress candidate from Nellimarla. In a way, the Botsa family hit a jackpot what with four of its members bagging the Congress tickets in the same elections. “Even the Chief Minister could not get more than two tickets for his family and had to persuade his own brother-in-law to give up hope for the Kadapa Assembly seat,” one senior Congress leader observed. Though he kept his two actor brothers away from the electoral battle, Praja Rajyam Party chief Chiranjeevi could, however, not deny his brother-in-law Allu Aravind a chance to seek his electoral fortunes for the Lok Sabha. While Chiranjeevi himself is contesting from Tirupati and Palakollu Assembly seats, Aravind is in race for the Anakapalli Lok Sabha seat in north coastal Andhra. Telugu Desam Parliamentary Party leader K Yerran Naidu and his brother Atchannaidu are seeking re-election to their respective positions from Srikakulam district. The Congress deputy leader in the outgoing Lok Sabha, G Venkataswamy, has opted out of the race this time and gave his Peddapalli (SC) seat to his son G Vivekananda. Vivek’s brother Vinod is a minister in the Y S Rajasekhara Reddy Cabinet and is seeking re-election from Chennuru in Adilabad district. Another minister Aanam Ramanarayana Reddy and his brother Vivekananda Reddy are seeking re-election to the Assembly while sitting MP Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy and his brother Chandrasekhar Reddy are in race for Lok Sabha and Assembly respectively from Sri Potti Sriramulu Nellore district. Sitting MLA Komatreddi Venkat Reddy and his brother Rajagopal Reddy are contesting the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in Nalgonda district. IT Minister R Damodar Reddy and his brother Venkat Reddy, Revenue Minister Dharmana Prasada Rao and his brother Krishnadas, government whip Mallu Ravi and his brother Bhatti Vikramarka are from the Congress. Minister Redya Naik and his daughter Kavitha are fighting the Assembly election from Warangal district. The TDP too has fielded brothers K E Krishnamurthy and K E Prabhakar to the Assembly from Kurnool district. Besides, it has given tickets to a couple Ramesh Rathod and Suman Rathod in Adilabad district. In Praja Rajyam Party, former minister K Kalavenkata Rao and his brother Ganapathi Rao are seeking election to the Assembly and the Lok Sabha respectively. MP-MLA couple Kotla Suryaprakash Reddy-Sujathamma are seeking re-election to their respective positions from Kurnool district. Another couple Bhuma Nagi Reddy and Sobha Nagi Reddy, which switched over to the PRP from TDP, is fighting the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections respectively. In Narayankhed, brothers Bhupal Reddy and Vijaypal Reddy are fighting each other on TRS and PRP tickets respectively. In Hyderabad, Majlis Ittehadul-e-Muslimeen MP Asaduddin Owaisi and his MLA brother Akbaruddi Owaisi are seeking re-election from their respective constituencies. Apart from TRS chief KCR and his son Rama Rao, the former’s nephew T Harish Rao is also contesting the election from Medak. MP Erraballi Dayakar Rao is seeking election to the Assembly this time on TDP ticket while his younger brother Pradeep Rao is the PRP candidate from different segments. PRP leader T Devender Goud and his nephew Mukesh Goud, a minister in the Rajasekhara Reddy Cabinet, are also fighting the Assembly elections from different constituencies. Devender Goud is also contesting the Malkajgiri Lok Sabha election. Mana Party, which has an electoral alliance with the PRP, has fielded its president Kasani Gnaneshwar, his brother Narasimhaiah and nephew Veeresh for different Assembly seats.

Cornered Congress' convulsive bursts

DESARAJU SURYA
Hyderabad: Having got nothing new to offer the electorate, except the promise of continuing the ongoing welfare schemes, the ruling Congress in Andhra Pradesh is adopting a rather strange strategy to counter the opposition parties that have come up with doles galore in their election manifestos.
Adopting an aggressive posture over its “welfare and development” agenda, the Congress is clearly trying to push the opposition parties – the Telugu Desam Party and the Praja Rajyam Party in particular – onto the defensive.
“Don’t believe TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu’s words. He is known to break the promises that he makes and hence lacks any credibility. The Rs 2-a-kg rice scheme is a classic example of his topsy-turvy stances,” Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy has been repeatedly trying to impress upon the people at his campaign rallies in the Telangana region.
The Chief Minister is thus aiming hard to negate the impact of the attractive cash transfer scheme and the free colour television scheme that the TDP promised in its election manifesto. “These are a discredited man’s ridiculous promises,” Rajasekhara Reddy remarked.
On the other hand, Rajasekhara Reddy is also trying to deride PRP chief Chiranjeevi’s development vision and the promise of ushering in a “change.”
“What is the change that Chiranjeevi is talking about? Does he intend to scrap all the welfare programmes we launched in the last five years? Is it the change that he is talking about,” the Chief Minister questions at the election rallies over the past week.
The political novice that he is, Chiranjeevi seems to have fallen to the Chief Minister’s ploy. Now, rather than propagating his own party’s agenda, the actor-turned-politician has been left to “clarify” to the people that no welfare programme of the current government would be abandoned. “We are not against any welfare scheme as such. We are only opposed to the deep-rooted corruption in the implementation of the schemes and the anomalies in programmes like the Arogya Sri health insurance. The schemes will be continued but with greater transparency and in a more effective manner,” Chiranjeevi has been assuring people at his road shows in East and West Godavari districts this week.
The Chief Minister, who is the sole campaigner for the Congress in the state now, is also crying hoarse that if any other party than the Congress is elected to power, all the massive irrigation projects taken up under the Rs two lakh crore Jalayagnam programme would be brought to a grinding halt. “Chandrababu has no concern for the agriculture sector while Chiranjeevi is totally opposed to the irrigation projects. The state will go to dogs if such parties are voted to power,” Rajasekhara Reddy tells his audience.
Again, Chiranjeevi comes out with a clarification on this issue as well. “Irrigation projects are essential but we have to prioritise them. Every project that has been taken up in the last five years is mired in corruption. The Comptroller and Auditor General’s reports speak volumes about the unbridled corruption. We shall certainly root out the corruption and complete the projects,” Chiranjeevi asserts in his rebuttal to Rajasekhara Reddy’s claims.
With Chandrababu launching his electioneering today, the TDP’s counter-offensive too will begin.