No politicians, media at Lokesh wedding!

Former chief minister and Telugu Desam president N Chandrababu Naidu does not want any politicians or mediapersons at the wedding of his only son Nara Lokesh on August 26. The venue selected is the sprawling Hitex but Chandrababu Naidu wants only a few people to attend the wedding ceremony. According to Telugu Desam sources, Chandrababu Naidu has decided to limit his guest list toabout 70 to 80 people and none of them is from the media or politics. No Telugu Desam leader will grace the occasion since Babu wants it to be purely a private affair.

If there will be any guests, they will be from the bride's side. And sources point out, there will be hundreds of them from the film industry.

It seems Chandrababu Naidu wants to present himself as the "simplest politician" in the country. So he has limited his guest list for the wedding, as he did earlier for the engagement ceremony.

How Can Gali Call Chandrababu Like This?

It is really demeaning to the society. A responsible industrialist slipped his tongue in nasty way. The former CM of AP and the present Opposition Party Leader is insulted with that dirty word ('A KOJJA') out of rage by Gali Janardana Reddy, the head of Mining Company at Obulapuram. How can he use that dirty word? He also said that the day will come when people throw stones on Chandrababu.
"Chandrababu! Nuvvu Magadivaithey, Nee Raktamlo neethi unte Hyderabad lo naa intipai raallu veyisthaava? Nuvvoka Durmargudivi, Chetakaani vaadivi, kojjaavi..", said Gali.
It's really demeaning. Can Chandrababu allow his business run smoothly when he comes to power if Gali shouts like this? Well, who knows there will be no permanent enemies in politics! Gali may buy Chandrababu if he comes to power.
Talking on this mining issue, "It's Paritala Ravi who preyed on the mines of that area when Chandrababu was in power. Now it's the time of Gali to prey on that. TDP is with insecurity that the Congress would go financially powerful with this mining business. So to curb that, TDP is sitting on that issue. Another aspect to be observed is that TDP has been silent from the last 3 years on this issue and suddenly woke up as there is no other issue to tickle the ruling party", said a lecturer who teaches political science in college of Hyderabad.

Opinion: Ramoji Rao Agreed He Is Licking TDP

Ramoji Rao agreed that he is the pamphlet of TDP in his editorial today. Shamelessly, he said that he called on people to vote for TDP in 1983 elections. How can a responsible News Paper (as he claims) boast this disgracefully? He also gave several covering inferno statements to support his act. He says that he was worried looking at the ill affects of monopoly of Congress in the state for about 30 years. He also said that he took the responsibility of standing as an opposition to Congress and encouraged TDP.
He recalled that he also wrote many things against TDP as well during its rule keeping the people's interest in view point. But how he earned the land for Ramoji Film City? Is that not by putting TDP on shoulders? The number-1 selfish old man, Ramoji Rao speaks about ethics in journalism which is a shame on his part.
Everybody does mistake. Standing with guilt looks mightier than the act of supporting it.
(Letter posted by greatandhra.com reader K. Raghunandan, New Jersey)

YSR gets 'Seema Simham' image!

Notwithstanding the hullabaloo created by the Telugu Desam members and the vilification campaign run by the media, there was an overwhelming support from not only the Congress leaders but also from other sections in Rayalaseema, to Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhar Reddy for coming down heavily on Opposition leader N Chandrababu Naidu in the Assembly on Monday.

In fact, YSR is now being described as "Seema Simham" by the Congress leaders from Kadapa and Anantapur districts. For the last two days, the high drama enacted by the Desam MLAs at Obulapuram mines, making all sorts of wild allegations against the Chief Minister and his family, were irritating these Rayalaseema Congress leaders. They were surprised as to why the Chief Minister remained silent when the TD MLAs were creating a nuisance at Obulapuram. In a way, these leaders were feeling that YSR's silence was not in tune with his Rayalaseema image.
But, when the Chief Minister took Naidu to task in the Assembly, threatening to make the latter regret for having born to his mother, his image graph has suddenly gone up and there were wide spread accolades for him in Rayalaseema, though some Congress leaders from Andhra like Finance Minister K Rosaiah felt that YSR should not have used such harsh words. And YSR proved himself a dignified leader by tendering an unconditional apology to Naidu on Tuesday, with a rider that if at all the latter felt there was any reference to his mother.

Fact Sheet: Dayakar becomes TD leaders' envy

Wardhannapet MLA and Telugu Desam whip in the Assembly Errabelli Dayakar Rao has become a hero in the party overnight, thanks to his overaction at the Obulapuram mines in Anantapur, where the Desam MLAs tried to tresspass into the mining area.
Though it was Dayakar Rao who dealt blows on the police personnel, the media tried to project as if he was manhandled by the police and that he fainted in the melee. The entire media focus was, thus, on Dayakar Rao and the next day, he put up a big show by shaving his beard and taking bath in front of the police station. Naturally, Dayakar Rao's image has gone up steeply in the party and Naidu had a word of praise for his daring acts.
This has created an envy among the other TD leaders towards Dayakar Rao. Particularly, his rival in Warangal district, Kadiam Srihari, has not taken kindly the kind of importance being given to Dayakar. In fact, when Srihari was the minister in Chandrababu Naidu cabinet, Dayakar Rao used to grumble everyday for being denied the berth in the Cabinet. In 2004 elections, Dayakar Rao won his seat, while Srihari lost the polls. Since then, Dayakar's role in the party has been increasing and Srihari has been relegated to back seat. With the Obulapuram incident, Srihari is forced to play a second fiddle to Dayakar, organising dharnas and rallies in support of the latter in Warangal district. That's Desam politics!!

Babu does an NTR in House boycott

Former Chief Minister and Opposition Leader in the Assembly N Chandrababu Naidu tries to imitate every trick of his father-in-law N T Rama Rao to be in the news and get the publicity.
On Tuesday, Naidu adopted the same trick NTR followed when he was the Opposition leader between 1989 and 1994 – of boycotting the Assembly proceedings. Naidu announced that he would be boycotting the Assembly proceedings for the next and last three days of the monsoon session in protest against the pungent remarks made by Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhar Reddy against him. He is trying to create an impression that he was deeply hurt by YSR's comments, personally denigrating him and his mother. Obviously, Naidu did not want to face the uncomfortable situation, if there is a debate in the Assembly on Obulapuram issue, as it would thoroughly expose his role in granting the mining lease. Hence, he decided to avoid the proceedings of the Assembly and at the same, be in the news.
When NTR was the Opposition leader, he, too, boycotted the Assembly proceedings in protest against the ill-treatment meted out to him by the then Vijayabhaskara Reddy government. Then, the entire show in the Assembly was handled by Chandrababu Naidu, who behaved as de facto Opposition leader. Now that Naidu himself chose to stay away from the proceedings, who would play his earlier role? Perhaps, Devender Goud might take the mantle.

DS lunch for Hyderabad bros: What's cooking?

Gandhi Bhavan was agog with rumours on Tuesday about possible outbreak of a full scale dissidence activity against Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhar Reddy, under a Telangana leadership.
The cause for the rumours was hosting of lunch by former Pradesh Congress Committee president and Minister for Higher Education D Srinivas exclusively for Hyderabad Brothers – Khairtabad MLA P Janardhan Reddy and Sanathnagar MLA Marri Shashidhar Reddy at his Banjara Hills residence. The so-called "luncheon meeting" lasted more than two hours and nobody knew what transpired between Srinivas and the Hyderabad brothers at the meeting. "Lunch ku pilichindu, vacchinam; antey," was the cryptic reply given by PJR to the waiting mediapersons.
Normally, PJR is outspoken and doesn't hide anything before the media. But this time, he remained tightlipped. So were Srinivas and Shashidhar Reddy. This had given rise to speculations about a possible dissidence activity in the Congress, in the wake of recent developments. There was also a speculation that the Chief Minister himself had asked Srinivas to cool down PJR and Shashidhar and buy peace with him (YSR). Anyway, the luncheon conclave was the talk of the town on Tuesday, providing a lot of fodder for mediapersons.