Aussies made vulgar, personal comments in Kochi

Star Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh revealed that it was an unrelenting barrage of vulgar personal remarks from the Australian fielders that provoked him to a verbal duel in the second one dayer at Kochi.

In the heated match on Tuesday, Harbhajan got out to Michael Clarke and while leaving, the offie was seen exchanging words with the Australians till umpire Steve Bucknor patted him on his shoulder, asking him to move on.

Harbhajan later revealed that he was reacting to some vulgar personal comments from the Aussies. He felt the 'arrogant' Aussies were still smarting from their Twenty20 World Cup defeat to India and their outburst was just a manifestation of that frustration.

"They think they are superior and can do and say whatever they like, but that is not the case," Harbhajan said.

"They are very bad losers. They were beaten in the (Twenty20) World Cup and they clearly did not like that," the off-spinner was quoted as saying by Sydney Morning Herald.

"They are a very good cricket side, but that does not mean that they can do whatever they want to do. They say they play the game in the right spirit, but they don't in reality. There is nothing gentlemanly about the way they play," said Harbhajan, seething with anger.

Harbhajan said he did not mind little war of words but stooping to personal level was a strictly no-no.

"I was responding to a lot of vulgar words that were said to me. I don't have any problem with chitchat on the field, so long as it is about the game. But when it is very personal and vulgar, that is not on. They think you cannot fight back and they do not like it when you do."

"I won't listen to that crap. If they want to play like that, they'll get it back from us," Harbhajan said.

The second one-dayer was marked by a number of such moments and Indian pacer S Sreesanth too had an altercation with Andrew Symonds and after the match, ICC match referee Chris Broad called Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist and Mahendra Singh Dhoni and asked them to rein in their teammates.

Harbhajan said the Aussies are "poor losers" and every other team shares this sentiment.

"Ask any team. They will tell you that when (Australia) get beaten, they react badly. In this game, you win some and you lose some, but regardless of the result, there is no excuse for their kind of behaviour," he asserted.

The daily also quoted Symonds lashing out at Sreesanth and saying, "When I go to another code of sport I like to see confrontation, I'll admit that, but you don't want to see ugly confrontation and you certainly don't want to see confrontation that degrades your code".

He, however, gave enough indications that the Australians would continue with their all-round aggressive approach to the game to gain a psychological edge.

"Because we've got them for so long, if you can get an edge over them, it starts to eat into them mentally as well I think," he said.

"If we can play well here on their end, it would be good to take that confidence and that success back home," Symonds said. (PTI)

'I dream of an India that is more than hope'

My dreams began young. But I always planned on things one step at a time. I think, later, that made all the difference, between just imagining and realising that that imagination needed a focus.

I began playing cricket because everyone around was into cricket. They did play other sports in our neighbourhood, badminton and hockey, volleyball; football was really popular when Mumbai’s monsoon was on, we would dance in the rain as we played the beautiful game, but yet, somehow, it never was quite cricket. Cricket was special.

I think things began to change for me when I began understanding that there was more to cricket than picking up a bat and trying to take a wild swipe at everything that came its way. That was also when I began to dream.

I was around 9 or 10 and, watching my brother and some older guys in the building play, I wanted to be like them, to play like them, with them. My imagination at that stage only took me to a place where I was intensely competitive, enough to be among the top batsmen in my group. If you did well, were lucky, you would get a prized invitation to play with the older boys and if that happened, your success and reputation in the peer group was assured.

If I think that, in any way, I have been able to inspire generation next into imagining; into believing, hoping and dreaming that a future unknown might be possible, then that would be my contribution. If you're lucky enough to be blessed, it’s important to distribute those blessings too.So that’s what happened with me. I was 10 when I was called to play with people aged 20 or 22. And then, that year, India won the World Cup. Life was never the same again. For millions of us, young and restless and hopeful, that was the beginning of a special love story with a special game.

Having said that, I think every game is special and India’s recent winning season across sports has been wonderful to watch and so very encouraging. I have watched, with pride and joy, as the hockey team has started to pick itself up; I have watched our footballers play with rejuvenated enthusiasm and dreams in their eyes; and have watched excitedly as people like world billiards champion Pankaj Advani, golfer Jeev Milkha Singh and tennis star Sania Mirza have made us proud. Most of all, I have followed, every inch a proud Indian, the ascent of Viswanathan Anand to the chess world championship crown over the weekend.

In sport, we have several ups and downs, but being a sportsman of course, one doesn't like to lose. In fact, I think the only time I have intentionally allowed myself to relax in competition is against my children, because my wife tells me that you have to sometimes let your kids win.

At the same time, I still don't allow them to win every time. They have a long way to go and I think it's important to reinforce the message, as subtly as possible to youngsters that you have to earn your stripes in life; that, the world might lie ahead but you need to work towards conquering that world.

This is as much in life, as in sport, and, just to expand on this beyond the world I inhabit, I have put together my seven-point agenda, my dream for my India.

Eradicating hunger

I dream of an India where there is enough food for everyone, where nobody goes to sleep hungry. There are places in Mumbai where they regularly feed those who cannot otherwise afford food, and I think they do a very precious, vital job.

Accessibility to clean drinking water

I'm not talking just of water crises in metros but of those people who have to walk miles to get drinking water in remote areas in the great Indian interior. We need to find a way to make sure that if someone is thirsty, water is within easy reach.

The right to shelter

One of the things that strike you about the cities is the miles upon miles of suffering homeless, wrapped in ragged newspapers, on the streets of our megapolises. My future India will see a roof over every Indian's head; be an India that will have a home for everyone.

Educated women

My India would see an end to the discrimination against women that is prevalent in many places; an end to the evil of female infanticide. Educating our girls is a must; it is women who make families and influence generation next. We cannot be unfair to them.

Access to healthcare

I’ve read and seen enough about the lack of decent medical facilities across the country. We, as a people, need to make sure that anyone and everyone who needs a doctor is able to reach one and be helped. And be helped properly.

The end of terror

I am from Mumbai, where too many have fallen prey to terror attacks. People have suffered all over India, too many have lost near and dear ones. Somehow, somewhere, this needs to stop. Maybe that can only happen if we have a common dream, one of a better tomorrow.

A more tolerant India

Finally, when I look at my team-mates, people from different religions and socio-economic backgrounds who still bond like brothers, I wonder why that cannot be replicated across India. My final prayer, therefore, is for a tolerant India, where religious and other differences do not matter.

I also think that's where people like me have a role to play by setting an example, because little things — gestures, moves, speech — it all matters.

For instance, I've often been asked about what I felt about personal milestones, like breaking the world record for maximum hundreds, I always say it feels good but personally, I feel that if my doing this can inspire someone else, some kid watching me, to dream about going one step better, one step further, then that's what makes it worth the while.

As a child, growing up, it's hugely important to have heroes, to have someone to idolise. I had my heroes while growing up, and I have them now.

Idols and idealism

If I think that, in any way, I have been able to inspire generation next into imagining; into believing, hoping and dreaming that a future unknown might be possible, then that would be my contribution. If you're lucky enough to be blessed, it's important to distribute those blessings too.

I would like to imagine an India where Generation X is consistently raising the bar, where they believe that the impossible does not exist. My dream for India is the creation of a sporting system where no child believes that he or she has been hard done by.

Between around 1975, the time of the first World Cup, and now, Indian sport has taken huge steps; it has moved from the metropolises into the small towns, there has been a huge social change that is both heartening and welcome. Yet, there is still work to be done, more remote places to be brought into the fold, not in a haphazard manner though, but in an organised fashion.

It's not just about handing someone a racquet or a cricket bat and a rubber ball but also about teaching them the intricacies of sport, of inculcating in them a sense of achievement and inspiring in them the belief and the will to succeed.

There have to be proper facilities, accessibility to sport for people with hitherto no access… in the years ahead, if we can manage that, we will definitely move forward.

I also want to imagine an India as a land of equal sporting opportunity and choice, one where people honestly believe that sport can give them a better shot at life. No one should have the option of saying that he didn't get a chance, he or she should only be able to say that 'look, I got a chance, but I wasn't quite good enough to make it'.

If we can get sport to that level, a place where there are no excuses, tomorrow would be a far better place to be.

Behind The Scene: Samal flees to Orissa!!

Former Vigilance Commissioner Rama Chandra Samal, who created a sensation of sorts by disclosing the names of several corrupt IAS, IPS and IFS officers including those in the Chief Minister's Office, seems to have decided to go back to his native district Orissa.

Sources say Samal is planning to vacate his quarters in Secunderabad and shift his base to Orissa, after he reportedly received some threatening calls from some unknown persons. His family members were scared so much so that they brought pressure on him to go back to their native place in Orissa.

Initially, Samal thought he would stay back in Hyderabad and fight out the corrupt officers. He also had intentions of getting associated with Bharatiya Janata Party and lobby for any important post. But after the initial sympathy and support, the BJP leaders did not turn up to him nor did any other Opposition leader. And succumbing to the powerful Opposition lobby, Samal laid down his weapons and decided to flee to Orissa, sources say.

Babu takes a step ahead of Chiranjeevi

Former chief minister and Telugu Desam president N Chandrababu Naidu wants to be ahead of film star Chiranjeevi. Though he did not say it in so many words, he simply hinted that if he does some social work, he will do it in a better way. And what is this social work? Blood donation camps and blood bank. Telugu Desam will soon establish a blood bank of its own under NTR Memorial Trust. So far it has been donating blood to other organisations. Henceforth it will have its own state-of-the-art blood bank and the party will supply blood to the needy patients.

Chiranjeevi too is doing this work for long. So what is the difference between Chandrababu Naidu and Chiranjeevi one may ask. Yes there's a major difference. All the blood banks in the State simply supply blood to the needy patients. One has to approach them and take the blood. But in the case of Chandrababu Naidu's blood bank, just a telephone call will take care of everything. Blood will be delivered at the doorsteps of the hospital concerned. One need not rush to the blood bank to collect blood and then rush to the hospital carrying the blood bottle to be handed over to hospital authorities for transfusion. This will consume time. So the TD will supply blood to hospitals and all one has to do is to call the TD's blood bank for help.

According to sources, Chandrababu Naidu has rushed through the blood bank idea to preempt any possible entry of Chiranjeevi into politics.

What happened to Venkat's case?

Public memory is really short. People tend to foget issues fast. In fact there are so many issues before the people in the country that they forget them fast. Even if one wants to remember them, it's not possible. Before newer issues go on adding to the old ones and it's quite hard and almost impossible to think of old issues.

Politicians take advantage of people's short memory and benefit from them. The recent case of death in the house of K Venkat Rao, son of former APCC chief K Keshava Rao. The Opposition raised a hue and cry till he was arrested. Once he was arrested and sent to jail, no one is talking about Venkat Rao or about the case. The police are doing their job silently and sooner or later Venkat Rao will emerge "victorious" from the legal battle with a clean chit, ala film actor N Balakrishna.

Interestingly the Congress did not make much noise when Balakrishna, brother-in-law of Telugu Desam president N Chandrababu Naidu was in the same situation as is Venkat now. But the Telugu Desam shouted from the housetop in Venkat's case.

Now that the shouting has stopped, public attention has turned away from Venkat and Keshava Rao.

For Babu it's everything but Bapu

The Telugu Desam organised a mega event at party headquarters NTR Bhavan to mark the birth anniversary of father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi on Tuesday. Chandrababu Naidu, as usual, was the chief guest and spoke at length on various issues touching everything on the earth. But strangely enough he did not talk of Gandhi or his ideal principles. Except referring to Gandhi Jayanti he did not take pains to talk of the great leader.

The opportunity was utilised to criticise the Congress government and announce the pre-poll promises of the Telugu Desam. No one in the audience dared point out to Chandrababu Naidu that he was speaking out of context and it was the occasion to pay tributes to Mahatma Gandhi and not the time to criticise others. Mahatma Gandhi, no doubt, criticised the British but he did it in a subtle way. It was not to derive political mileage. It was in national interest. But of late our power hungry leaders are utilising noble events like Gandhi Jayanti to settle political and personal scores. Hey Ram!

Fact Sheet: Babu's iftaar politics!

Former chief minister and Telugu Desam president N Chandrababu Naidu scored a political point over his rival, Chief Minister YS Rajasekhar Reddy in wooing the principal minority community. Generally, Chandrababu Naidu hosts the iftaar party in the last week of Ramzan, after the chief minister hosts his iftaar. But this time, with election talk in the air, Chandrababu Naidu advanced his iftaar party taking Rajasekhar Reddy by surprise. The first impression is the best impression, it is said and Chandrababu Naidu it seems firmly believes this adage.

The TD leadership invited several senior Muslim leaders including the religious scholars to bless Chandrababu Naidu. It is quite a different matter that some of these scholars will also be present when Rajasekhar Reddy hosts his iftaar party later this month.

Sources point out that Chandrababu Naidu has rushed through the iftaar party to put Rajasekhar Reddy in an embarrassing situation. With the Telugu Desam leadership busy planning strategies to win over several sections of society, the Monday's iftaar party has given a plus point to the Telugu Desam as far as wooing the Muslims is concerned.

Political Buzz: YSR prefers Indira to Nehru!!

Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhar Reddy seems to be going rather too much in naming the government schemes only after Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, so much so that the people are at their wit's end as to what the scheme is all about!

It is understood that YSR is going all out to please his boss Madam Sonia Gandhi by naming all schemes after Indira and Rajiv, but it is creating a sort of abhorrence among the people. On Sunday, he inaugurated two parks and one flyover in the city, all named after Rajiv Gandhi. Sometimes, when officials suggested to him to name a particular scheme or project after Jawaharlal Nehru or Mahatma Gandhi, too, YSR is outrightly rejecting the same to display his more loyal than king attitude towards Sonia.

For instance, in Kadapa district, the irrigation officials suggested a canal to be named after Nehru, but the Chief Minister stoutly ordered them to rename it after Indira Gandhi. The officials grumbled and reluctantly accepted the orders. If this goes on, it will definitely be an irritant for the people in the long run!!

Behind The Scene: Yet another poll sop from YSR

Chief Minister YS Rajasekhar Reddy has come out with yet another poll promise to bear the main Opposition Telugu Desam. This time he wants to distribute two lakh acres of land among the landless poor. Pattas will also be issued immediately unlike in the past. Though the Congress government describes it as the fourth phase of land distribution among the landless poor, sources point out that the Chief Minister has rushed through the decision to pre-empt any moves by the Telugu Desam or any other political party.

The government will distribute the land on the State Formation Day on November 1.

Till now the State government has identified as much as 1.35 lakh acres of vacant government land, besides 4,000 acres of assigned lands. The government is now busy in identifying the remaining land for distribution.

The Chief Minister wanted more Govt. lands to be get readied for distribution among the landless poor but with clear titles. Necessary Government Orders in this regard will be issued soon.

In another decision, the Chief Minister once again reiterated that not an inch of govt. or private or endowment or other lands will be allowed to be occupied or illegally encroached upon. Referring to the CPM's 'Bhu poratam' agitation, the Chief Minister once again made it clear that on November 1, the government will distribute about two lakh acres to the landless poor, but will not allow anarchy to prevail in the State. Thus the illegal land occupation by the CPM as part of their agitation should be dealt upon seriously and under any circumstances all the remaining illegal occupations should be evicted within a week.

He was told by the District Collectors of Ranga Reddy and Hyderabad that there is no illegal occupation as on date and all those illegally occupied government and other lands were evicted. There are a few acres of land still remain illegally occupied in few districts like Nellore, Guntur and Srikakulam.

Fact Sheet: Babu's knowledge forum goes sleep

Telugu Desam supremo and former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu is known for his innovative and often fanciful ideas. Just before his visit to the USA to collect funds from Telugu NRIs for the NTR Foundation, Chandrababu Naidu launched a website called www.nritdp.org. He also set up a knowledge forum where he invites suggestions on a variety of topics from Telugu-speaking NRIs spread across the globe. The knowledge forum worked well for three months. Later it went dead. There have been no postings on the NRI Knowledge Forum since July 30 when the last posting was made. Two months have passed and it seems tha TD leadership has no new idea to put before the forum for discussion.

Earlier, the TD leadership set up a grievances cell at NTR Bhavan. It worked well for a couple of months. Now there's no news about it. Chandrababu Naidu has not bothered to revive it. Similarly, there was an "anti-corruption" cell in the TD office. It is also as good as dead with the party not able to take up the complaints and suggestions from the common man.

Madhu Yashki's Curry Favor For Sonia

Till two weeks ago he was on tenterhooks. The lobby led by chief minister was targeting him and hatching plans to deprive him of a winnable Lok Sabha seat, but by the grace of Rahul Gandhi, Nizamabad Member of Parliament Madhu Yaksi Goud has risen again. Goud who was hibernating in New York when the Congress headquarters appointed him secretary of the national party came running back to Hyderabad to accept the accolades. But he has gone back again because Madam Sonia is about to visit New York and Madhu wants to be there to receive her. Before his resurrection, the plan being discussed by the state Congress bosses was to push him out to Nalgonda and allot the Nizamabad seat to minister in the state D Srinivas. But this plan will now been put in cold storage.

Cong MP wants two kg rice for Rs 3!!

Election atmosphere is prevailing in the State at present, with all the political parties – the Congress, the Telugu Desam, the TRS and even newly formed Lok Satta – are going all out to woo the electorate with all sorts of populist schemes.

Political observers say it might not be impossible for Telugu Desam president N Chandrababu Naidu to implement the free power supply scheme if the TD comes to power, as Naidu could not just afford to say he would drop the scheme. However, it would be next to impossible for Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhar Reddy to implement Rs 2 a kg rice scheme, as this money has absolutely no value in the present circumstances since the production cost of rice has gone up steeply. That is why, YSR's proposals has been taken with a pinch of salt by the Congress leaders themselves.

A Congress MP, Survey Satyanarayana of Siddipet, has remarked, rather sarcastically that, it would have been better for YSR to announce two kgs of rice for Rs 3, rather than copying the Rs 2 a kg rice scheme of NTR announced way back in 1982. "If YSR thinks Rs 2 a kg rice scheme is possible, he can as well give it at Rs 1.50 a kg. We have huge buffer stocks of rice in the State and hence, YSR can always afford to distribute it at heavily subsidized price," he suggested.

What these leaders fail to understand is that the voters are no more fools. They are intelligent enough to see through these announcements and come to their own judgement.

How weighty are Cong, TD pre-poll sops?

Yes. They make up around 20 per cent of the State's total annual budget. If the Congress or the TD, whoever comes to power, has to spend on fulfilling the sops announced by them, they need at least Rs 10,000 crore every year. If the benefits are extended to more sections, the budgetary allocation will simply jump to Rs 20,000 crore. So the State's budget will go up by Rs 10,000 crore to Rs 20,000 crore.

Without thinking of how they will raise so much money to fulfill the promises, both the Congress and the Telugu Desam are vying with each other in announcing newer and newer promises. They are more interested in winning elections rather than thinking of the State's economy.

If the new government implements the schemes -- all the shemes promises -- it will have to impose new taxes on people to the tune of Rs 20,000 crore. This means everyone in the State will have to pay new and additional taxes. The tax structure will go up at least by two times. The common man has to cough up from his nose to fulfill the power needs of these politicians. What's a logic?

Fact Sheet: Clashes for tickets begin in Cong

Even before there is any concrete talk about mid-term elections to the Lok Sabha, leave alone to the State Assembly, the Congress leaders in the State are already clashing with one another to please the bosses and get the tickets.

Gandhi Bhavan is buzzing with activity with ticket aspirants thronging the place almost on a regular basis. The leaders are preparing their dossiers and submitting the same to the office, so that they would be in the forefront while seeking the tickets. In other places, there are already clashes between two groups of ticket aspirants.

At the inauguration of Malakpet flyover on Sunday, the supports of two ticket aspirants – sitting MLA Malreddy Ranga Reddy and Hyderabad Urban Development Authority Chairman D Sudheer Reddy – virtually entered into a brawl to attract the attention of the Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhar Reddy. There were heated arguments between the two groups and they even clashed with the police to be in the front seats, as a result of which the police had to resort to minor lathicharge. More such clashes are in store in the coming days, Gandhi Bhavan sources say.

Who is playing political gimmick?

Naidu, YSR All Set To Enrich Election Manifestoes By Listing Out More Sops For Voters

Hyderabad: Chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and his bete noire N Chandrababu Naidu seem to be vying with each other in making tall promises every day.

The chief minister on Sunday announced that he would convert Ranga Reddy into the most prosperous district and would extend the Chevella irrigation project up to Tandur. In a bid to outshine him, the TDP president said that his party was working out modalities to provide free education up to the high school level, 20 percent free seats in engineering and other professional colleges for the meritorious poor students and a special package for farm labourers.

Interestingly, both the leaders claim that these are not poll gimmicks but “their genuine concern for the welfare of the poor.” According to Naidu, the party has invited a team of experts from New Delhi to interact with the committee headed by T Devender Goud on October 6 and 7 and work out the economics and modalities of the announcements made by him in the last two days.

Meanwhile, the officials and some senior Congress leaders feel that the chief minister has fallen into the trap laid by TDP and made a hasty announcement of a Rs 2-kg rice scheme. While the opposition party can make any announcement, the ruling party has to do a lot of homework before committing itself to any populist scheme as it will have to bear the consequences of implementing it if it is returned to power.

If the government goes on announcing populist schemes, it would push the state economy into doldrums and the prestigious housing and irrigation projects would have to take a back seat, officials feel. The finance department has made it clear that it would not be possible to implement the rice scheme this year and the chief minister is understood to have taken a step backward saying that it can be announced in the next budget.

But Reddy feels that his announcement is not an election gimmick. “It is Chandrababu Naidu who is indulging in gimmicks, not me,” he said on Sunday. Justifying his decision, Reddy said that what is important is not how long one is in power but how much one has done for the welfare of the poor. He said he had proved TDP wrong by not only supplying free power but also putting the state’s economy back on rails.

CONG PROMISES
Rs 2-a-kg rice for BPL families
Deepam scheme to involve SHGs in LPG cylinder distribution to rural poor
80 lakh new power connections for Indiramma houses
Extension of Chevella irrigation project up to Tandur
Unemployment dole for youth
100 per cent rural electrification
More funds for SHGs

TDP PROMISES
Free power for nine hours
MSP for paddy on a par with wheat
Upgradation of government schools on a par with corporate schools
Free education up to high school and 20 per cent free seats in professional colleges
Poor to be permitted to sell assigned land
Unemployment dole Cheaper power tariff for poor 3 cents of plot for landless
MIG houses for middle income group

Are Cong, TD schemes to preempt Chiranjeevi?

The Congress and the Telugu Desam have come out with a number of populist schemes promising that they would implement several programmes for the people if elected to power in the May 2009 elections. Though elections are a cool 18 months away, these two main political parties rushed to announce the schemes, catching the attention of voters.

According to informed sources, the sudden rush in announcements is just a clever political ploy to preempt any move by popular film star Chiranjeevi from announcing a political party. Even if Chiranjeevi announces his own political party, these parties feel that it will not make any dent in their vote banks since they had already come out with a series of populist schemes including the Rs 2 a kg rice programme and free power to farmers. This is nothing but to confuse the voters. Chiranjeevi, in case, he forms a political party has to announce these same schemes. Then the Congress and the Telugu Desam will say that the film star has nothing new to offer to the voters, since they had already announced the populist schemes.

Naidu Promises: Gift of colour television sets?

Hyderabad: Telugu Desam President N. Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday continued the spate of promises on behalf of the party by announcing that he would include in its election manifesto a legal provision for the poor to sell assigned lands.

Addressing a press conference, he also declared that the TDP, if elected to power, would also ensure that every poor family living in rural and urban areas would have a house. To a question whether he would match the DMK Government’s gift of colour television sets, he quipped, “Why not, we shall see.”

Mr. Naidu justified the sops he proposes to give on the ground that the TDP had always been advocating an alternative economic policy to ensure that the benefits of reforms reached the poor. He called for a Statewide debate on the performance of the Congress Government as people needed to be informed of how it had ‘failed miserably’ in fulfilling its pre-poll promises. It should be a point-wise debate of the promises made and to what extent they were delivered.

Fact Sheet: Babu's exam paper for YSR

Yes, it's 100 questions. The Telugu Desam has been coming out with questionnaires time and again on various issues. First it began with a set of a dozen questions. Then it went to 30 and then to 50 and now it's altogether 100 questions. It is a sort of political examination which Telugu Desam supremo N Chandrababu Naidu has been conducting for his bete noire Chief Minister YS Rajasekhar Reddy.

On Sunday, the TD leadership came out with a set of 100 questions and demanded that Rajasekhar Reddy answer all of them. The questions ranged from so-called corruption in irrigation projects to the collapse of the scaffolding supporting the underconstruction flyover at Panjagutta in Hyderabad. There's a tagline attached to the question paper. YSR should answer the questions if he were sincere.

As usual Rajasekher Reddy does not bother to answer to TD questions. With the elections fast approaching Chandrababu Naidu is coming out with tougher questions and also increasing the number of questions. Telugu Desam senior leader Yanamala Ramakrishnudu posed the questions to the chief minister on behalf of the TD leadership.

Behind The Scene: BJP blackmails TRS

The Bharatiya Janata Party, which is desperately trying to retain its whatever little identity it has in the State by raking up the Telangana issue and entering into an alliance with the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, has suffered humiliation from TRS president K Chandrasekhara Rao who outrightly rejected its friendship.

Now, the BJP is blackmailing the TRS, so as to induce the latter into a pre-poll alliance. While adopting a resolution at its recent Bhopal meeting on Telangana State, the BJP leaders are planning to launch a massive campaing in support of smaller States for decentralisation of powers and for better administration. The party wants to target KCR for playing a political game and raking up profits from the movement, rather than working with the like-minded parties like the BJP. "KCR said that he would hug even a caterpillar for the cause of separate Telangana, but now he is shying away for a united fight with the BJP for a separate State for political gains," BJP national leader Bangaru Lakshman said.

BJP national president Rajnath Singh followed a carrot and stick policy. He gave an option to the TRS president. If the TRS does not want to be a part of the NDA, it can join hands with the BJP only till the Telangana is achieved. Will KCR take the bite?

Why is Sonia pampering AP leaders?

After a long time, AICC president Sonia Gandhi has given a wider representation to Andhra Pradesh in the latest AICC reshuffle. While retaining seniors like N Janardhan Reddy, G Venkatswamy and G Sanjeeva Reddy in the Congress Working Committee, the highest policy making body of the party, Sonia also included Rajahmundry MP Undavalli Arun Kumar as a CWC permanent invitee. Similarly, MLC P Sudhakar Reddy is retained as AICC secretary, while two others - Nizamabad MP Madhu Yashki Goud and Parvathipuram MP V Kishore Chandra Deo are included in the core team. Yaski Goud is said to be in the inner circle of Rahul Gandhi, while Kishore Chandra Deo also has good rapport with the Gandhi family.

The reasons for this 'special attachment' are not beyond comprehension. The Congress, which lost heavily in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, wants to retain its hold in Andhra Pradesh, which had sent 29 MPs to Parliament in 2004 elections, out of the Congress' overall tally of 145 in the country. AP contributed 1.49 crore votes to the Congress as against the overall vote count of 10.34 crore in the country in 2004 elections. And, if the Congress is able to hold on to its tally of seats in AP in the next Lok Sabha elections, whenever these are held, the chances are that UPA will retain power at the Centre.