Fact Sheet: Cong, TD let loose women power

Men politicians have taken a back seat for the time being, or so it appears. For the first time in the history of politics in Hyderabad, women groups have come forward to take on face-to-face in a bid to settle score. There have been wordy duels time and again but physical attacks have been quite rare, almost nil.

On centrestage are two women, ambitious and want to make it big in the political arena of the State. On one side is AP Mahila Congress chief Ganga Bhavani and on the other is the former Telugu Mahila chief Nannapaneni Rajakumari. Rajakumari had been a legislator and now Ganga Bhavani is also a legislator. But both are aiming at still bigger, may be ministership or at least a berth in the Rajya Sabha.

It was just a small issue but Rajakumari unnecessary opened her mouth to dish out foul words against Chief Minister YS Rajasekhar Reddy. Apparently with the RS polls just four months away, she wants to please party supremo N Chandrababu Naidu.

On the other hand, Ganga Bhavani led a sort of physical attack on Rajakumari. The TD leader lodged a complaint with the city police commissioner.

so far, so good.

But a leading Telugu daily, known for its Telugu Desam leanings, took advantage of the fight and devoted much space to the event, which otherwise could have been dismissed in a single column. The newspaper apparently wants to present the Congress in a bad image to benefit the Telugu Desam.