Around 90 elected corporators of the Greater Visakhapatnam along with their family members are on a week-long “study tour” to a couple of cities in south India, and Goa. While tongues have begun wagging that it was a junket by another name, and on the need for those from a much larger city to visit smaller ones for a “study” the mayor’s office has been tight-lipped on the issue. Critics are pointing out that two such previous trips by members of the present council did not result in any study or reports and are questioning the Rs 2 crore spent on each of those trips.
JAGAN OVER NAIDU AT DAIRY COOPERATIVE
What’s in a picture? A lot, if a recent event at the office of the Nandyal Vijaya Dairy is anything to go by. Allagadda legislator Bhuma Akhila Priya wanted to know why the chairman of the dairy S.V. Jagan Mohan Reddy has not replaced the portrait of former chief minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy with that of the current Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, with Akhila Priya insisting that the Chief Minister should be respected. But to her chagrin, the dairy chairman argued that while he respects Naidu as Chief Minister, the dairy is a cooperative, not a political organisation, and told the MLA that what the MLA wanted, was tantamount to interference in his office.
BATTLE FOR 2nd POST BEGINS AT TRS
The party may be down and out in terms of its electoral performance at the state and national levels, and its supreme leader K Chandrasekhar Rao may be in virtual hibernation — this situation has apparently ripened enough for a battle for the No. 2 slot in the BRS. Party insiders are pointing to how the heir-apparent and BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao, and the troubleshooter KCR relies on to swat away problems T. Harish Rao, are in a no-holds barred struggle to assume the mantle of the leader-to-go-to when KCR is not around. Just look at how they are going about, each making his presence felt and fumbling over each other on issues. If there was any division of labour in the past it has now been erased and with KCR lying low — ostensibly because there is no leader of his stature in the state that he can engage in a political battle with — the days ahead are expected to see more intensified effort by KCR’s two lieutenants — one his son, the other his nephew — to make their presence felt strongly in the public realm, KTR for long was considered an “urban” leader while Harish was the “anywhere” leader kind. But now Harish has waded into the Musi river issue, something KTR has been hammering away at sparking talk in the party that this is just one fresh instance of one-upmanship between the two.
TRANSFERS STUCK DUE TO WARRING BABUS
A clash of Titans can’t stay a secret for long. And bureaucratic corridors of Telangana’s Secretariat are abuzz with such a tale. Chief Secretary A. Santhi Kumari and General Administration Department (GAD, principal secretary, Services) Benhur Mahesh Dutt Ekka have reportedly locked horns over the sensitive issue of employee transfers, leaving Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s directives hanging in limbo. The story apparently has all the hallmarks of a classic stand-off. On one side, is the Chief Minister’s green light on September 30 for long-awaited employee transfers in the Secretariat. But 20 days later not a single transfer has taken place. The source of the rift? Apparently, Ekka sent a transfer file to Kumari for approval, proposing new postings for employees across various departments. However, the Chief Secretary reportedly wasn’t too pleased with some of the names on the list — particularly those close to her in the Secretariat’s peshi — who were due for a transfer. She requested a revised list, but Ekka firmly refused, stating, “a rule is a rule for all.” This impasse has led to the file gathering dust in the Secretariat. With neither side willing to budge, Revanth Reddy’s grand plans for an employee shake-up have hit a bureaucratic wall with employees’ disgruntlement becoming evident. Some have spent over a decade in the same positions, while others remain ensconced in the much-coveted ‘focal-posts’. So what’s next? Only time — and perhaps another dusty file — will tell.
FINANCE SECRETARY FLEES CREDITORS
The normally stoic corridors of the Telangana Secretariat have a new impromptu ‘Prajavani’ hotspot. No, not outside some minister’s chambers but at special chief secretary, finance, K Ramakrishna Rao’s peshi with many lining up to demand their pending bills be cleared. From government employees to contractors, the desperate crowd is seeking settlement for bills, turning Rao’s office into a bureaucratic version of a flash mob. The situation has forced security personnel, usually deployed outside ministers’ offices, now being tasked with crowd control in front of Rao’s chamber — a sight never before seen at a bureaucrat’s office. The chaos is rooted in the state’s ongoing cash crunch, which has left poor Rao, unable to release funds for a backlog of payments. And with no money to release, Rao has taken on the air of an elusive bureaucratic phantom, avoiding face-to-face meetings with the growing hoard of petitioners. Things have reached such a boiling point that Rao has reportedly adopted a “remote work” strategy, not from the convenience of home, but by retreating to the quiet (and crucially inaccessible) confines of the far-removed MCRHRD Institute in Jubilee Hills. However, this vanishing act is not going unnoticed. As Rao dodges the sea of grievances, tensions are rising in the Secretariat, with arguments frequently breaking out between frustrated staff in his office and the crowds of people demanding their dues. While Rao may be out of sight for now, the question remains — how long can he outrun the financial crisis and the growing queue outside his door?
KTR’S PROTEST AGAINST RADAR FACILITY BAFFLES ALL
The radar station to come up in the Damagundam forest area of Vikarabad district may have its very low frequency radar, but the political battle over it is anything but one of low frequency. Ever since BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao declared his party’s opposition to the project citing possible environmental damage, he has been bombarded with some high decibel criticism, from Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and also from Telangana BJP president and Union minister G. Kishan Reddy. Since the land allotment was cleared during earlier BRS rule, Kishan Reddy called out KTR for “double standards” and advised him to launch agitation against his father and former chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao and wondered if KTR would also agitate against himself as he was a member of the BRS Cabinet that first okayed the project. After all, national security is vital, Kishan Reddy made it clear, just as Revanth Reddy did, making it a possibly tough call for the BRS to keep going on about its threat of agitation against the project.
TIPPLERS TARGETTED FOR APPEASEMENT REGULARLY
Had a bit too much of the tipple? Not to worry, if the BJP Kisan Morcha leader Keerthi Ram Prasad’s proposal to provide free cab service to drop home safely those high on liquor ever sees the light of the day. Prasad mooted his idea with Eluru district collector Vetri Selvi recently citing accidents involving those who had a bit too much of the good stuff, especially when they drive vehicles. He even said some who walk have been falling into ditches and drains, and those driving under the influence are becoming a threat to others on the roads. But nothing much has been heard of this proposal since, at least from the side of the district administration.
Contributions from Saibewar Neeraj Kumar, PV Prasad, Narender Pulloor, KMP Patnaik, L Venkatram Reddy, Sampat G Samritan.