Rumors: What does Kavuri outburst signify?

The sudden outburst of Elluru MP Kavuri Sambasiva Rao against the UPA government at the Centre and the Y S Rajasekhara Reddy government in the State for denying adequate support price for paddy has raised many an eyebrow in the Gandhi Bhavan circles on Tuesday.

The party leaders were wondering as to what made Kavuri to use such a harsh language against the UPA government and instigate the farmers against Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh demanding support price of Rs 1,000 per quintal of paddy. Many leaders feel it might be because Kavuri had got an indication from Sonia that he would not be considered for any Cabinet berth in the proposed expansion, for the simple reason that yet another Kamma could not be accommodated in the Cabinet, which already has two people – Renuka Chowdary and Daggubati Purandareshwari – from the same community. So, Kavuri is disappointed.

Secondly, there is a talk that Kamma leaders in the coastal Andhra are consolidating their ranks against Rajasekhar Reddy personally, if not the Congress per se. And Kavuri, who is nurturing grouse against YSR, might be part of the game plan of Kammas to dethrone YSR. But will spitting venom on the UPA government help Kavuri is a question to be answered.

Fact Sheet: Nagender becomes too high handed

Fresh from his newly gained position as the president of Greater Hyderabad City Congress Committee, former MLA Danam Nagender is behaving as he has already become Mayor of Greater Hyderabad and therefore, can do anything.

The Congress leaders in the city are already bearing the brunt of Nagender's highhanded behaviour. He has developed his own coterie around him and is caring a damn for the sincere party workers in the city. Even the police officers are facing nightmarish experience with Nagender, who is raiding the police stations and getting the party workers and anti-social elements released from the custody. His contention is that those who were arrested in various cases are closer to him and they will play a major role in the Congress victory in the GHMC elections. The police are unable to do anything, as Nagender is closer to Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhar Reddy.

Nagender's highhanded behaviour has also become a trouble for Hyderabad brothers – P Janardhan Reddy and M Shashidhar Reddy. Though both of them are MLAs, it is the Nagender's word that prevails in all the offices and police stations in the city. In denying entry for them into the Begumpet airport during President's visit and denial of chair to PJR at the official meeting , Nagender played a big role. In the coming days, Nagender is expected to get more and more prominence, party sources say.

I don't miss Twenty20 cricket: Sourav Ganguly

Mumbai, Oct 16 (IANS) Sourav Ganguly's explosive batting style - which he rediscovered in the Nagpur ODI against Australia - would have made him a successful batsman in Twenty20 cricket, but the former Indian captain says he doesn't miss the newest and fastest version of the game.

"I don't think I miss Twenty20 cricket. I don't know what it would have been if this kind of cricket was introduced during my younger days. But now I don't think I would have really missed it," Ganguly told IANS in an interview here.

Ganguly along with Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid - known as the 'Big 3' of Team India - made themselves unavailable for the Twenty20 World Cup. Their non-availability put wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni on the hot seat of captaincy. Dhoni led a bunch of young players to victory at the inaugural world championship of the newest form of cricket in South Africa.

That win gave India some of its future stars, who rose to the occasion when it mattered the most. They beat Pakistan in a nerve biting finish at the final, and the squad is now tipped to be the future of Indian cricket.

"I think this team has all the ingredients to be the world champions. The new guys are really good and they all are talented and will do the country proud in the coming days," said Ganguly, who won the best captain in 75 years of Indian Test cricket award.

Ganguly beat some of the biggest names of Indian cricket like Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, Sunil Gavsakar and the late C.K. Nayudu and late Vinoo Mankad for the prestigious award.

"It is a great honour to be adjudged as the best captain of 75 years of Indian Test cricket. My best success as a captain, I think, will always remain beating Pakistan in their home in 2004," said Ganguly.

India defeated Pakistan for the first time on their soil to win a Test series in March 2004. The series was also memorable because Virender Sehwag became the first Indian to score a triple century with a solid knock of 309.

Ganguly had words of praise for Dhoni and said the 26-year-old should be given more time to click.

"I am sure he will take India to new cricketing heights. The only thing he lacks is experience and he should be given more time to gain it," said Ganguly.

On his role in the Indian team as a senior player, Ganguly said: "The only thing I have to do is to keep on performing. I have to keep on scoring runs.

"Performance and not age should be the criteria for selection in the team," he said.

KCR spreads T-sentiment among tribals

Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) president K Chandrasekhar Rao is making serious efforts to attract the tribals and rope in them into the Telangana movement, so as to garner their votes in the next elections.

Hitherto, KCR did not focus his attention on the tribals in the remote areas to realize his dream of Telangana State. They were neglected by mainstream political parties like the Congress and the TD, who used them only as vote banks. For the first time, the TRS president is trying to spread the Telangana sentiment among the tribals, stating that they would get due justice and political representation only if the Telangana State is formed. His participation in the death anniversary of Tribal Legendary in Jodenghat in Keramaeri mandal on October 26 is being viewed as an attempt to strengthen the TRS base among the tribals who can play role in deciding result of two reserved constituencies and in two general seats and MP seat.

Party sources said KCR would also tour in interior tribal villages in Narnoor, Jainoor, Sirpur (U) and interact with the bereaved families of tribals who died due to malaria, diarrohea and gastroenteritis. He would also planning to pay visit to the Indravelli martyrs memorial on the way to Jodenghat. KCR will participate in public meting in Nirmal on October 25 before participating in the Komuram Bheem's death anniversary in Jodenghat.

Fact Sheet: Babu becomes a farmer for votes

Former chief minister and Telugu Desam president N Chandrababu Naidu is spending two days in Godavari sharing the problems of farmers, particularly those growing paddy. The East and the West Godavari districts play a crucial role in Assembly elections and the Telugu Desam had fared badly in both the places in May 2004 elections. These districts were once considered the bastion of the Telugu Desam. Now they are no more TD's citadel. The Congress has taken over the two districts. In a desperate attempt to woo back the voters to the Telugu Desam fold, Chandrababu Naidu took up the cause of paddy growers. He wants a support price of Rs 1000 per quintal to be given to paddy yields on par with wheat.

Though the Congress too took up the paddy issue with the Central government and Chief Minister YS Rajasekhar Reddy himself wrote a letter to Prime Minister, the TD leader went a step ahead to spend some time in the paddy fields "sharing" the woes of farmers and promising that he would give them the highest possible support price to paddy.

It's a different matter that Chandrababu Naidu did not pay attention to paddy or any agricultural crop when he was in power for about nine long years. Now that he is in the Opposition, he has realised that agriculture is not a wasteful excercise and helping or pretending to help farmers will fetch votes. It's a key to power and Chandrababu Naidu has realised a bit earlier.

Sachin back into top 10 ODI batsmen rankings

DUBAI(ANI): Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar has moved back into the top 10 of the International Cricket Council (ICC) rankings for One-Day International (ODI) batsmen. In the latest rankings issued on Monday, Sachin moved up three places to sit at joint 9th, alongside Chris Gayle of the West Indies.

He is the only Indian batsman in the top 10. Vice-captain Yuvraj Singh is at 15th place, while captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni occupies the 16th position.

On the debit side of the ledger, however, former captain Rahul Dravid has slipped seven places and is now lies in 22nd place. India's highest-placed bowler in the relevant table is Harbhajan Singh, down in 29th position.

Australia's Andrew Symonds is within touching distance of top spot in the ODI batsmen rankings.

The powerful right-hander, who bludgeoned a brutal 107 from just 88 balls against India in Nagpur on Sunday, has rocketed up six spots to second place and is now just eight rating points behind his captain and team-mate Ricky Ponting.

That rise is a reflection of his outstanding form during the ongoing series as he is the leading run-scorer from either side with 365 runs at an average of 91.25 and a strike-rate of 110.94 runs per hundred balls.

Symonds, who has reached a career-high tally of rating points, forms an impressive Australian 1-2-3 at the top of the batting table, behind Ponting but ahead of Matthew Hayden, the winner of the ODI Player of the Year award at the ICC Awards in September and the second highest run-getter in the current series.

Three other Australians are in the top 11 - Michael Hussey (5th), Michael Clarke (8th) and Adam Gilchrist (11th).

The news is just as good for Ponting's men in the bowling list with left-arm wrist spinner Brad Hogg breaking into the top 10 on the back of being joint leading wicket-taker (alongside team-mate Mitchell Johnson) in the India series with 11 victims.

Hogg is one of three Australia bowlers in that top 10 with Nathan Bracken (3rd) and Brett Lee (9th) also featuring.

Judicial probe drama irritating public

The challenge and counter-challenges made by Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhar Reddy and Telugu Desam president N Chandrababu Naidu on the controversial judicial probe into the wealth amassed by the both since 1978 is becoming more and more farcical.

While declining the demand for a judicial probe only by a sitting judge, YSR has taken advantage of the comment made by the TD president that he was ready to face any inquiry, even if it is an Assembly committee, into the issue of who had built up more assets in the last 30 years. "Having ruled the State for about nine years, Naidu must be definitely aware that the High Court and Supreme Court will not spare a sitting judge to probe into the issues of individuals. Since the TD president himself agreed to face any inquiry, let him accept a judicial probe by a retired High Court judge, if he has any respect towards judicial probes," he observed.

Naidu has no answer, but to save his own skin, he is not accepting the offer, saying only a sitting judge can do an impartial job. And he is demanding the resignation of the Chief Minister, if the inquiry has to be impartial. Since both the demands are not possible, the whole episode is creating an irritation to the people.

This is not the first time that both YSR and Naidu were involved in personal feuds. Since 1999, YSR had filed 11 petitions against Naidu and released 'documentary evidence' on him during the latter's tenure as CM. Now, YSR has turned tables on Naidu by ordering 22 different probes against Naidu's earlier acts of omission and commission. Naidu, on his part, has responded by rushing to the High Court with petitions against YSR on several issues. Apart from court battles, they have made disparaging comments against one another on several occasions. It is time for them to bury the hatchet as none of their predecessors as Chief Ministers or Leaders of Opposition indulged in personal vendetta against each other.

Fact Sheet: Nannapaneni stops her tantrums

Senior Telugu Mahila leader Nannapaneni Rajakumari has finally decided to call it quits. Her highest complaint forum, she decided, was the Raj Bhavan and interestingly not the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

She has blown out of proportions a small issue and attempted to derive maximum political mileage out of it. But she soon realised that it is bringing her ill repute and so she decided to stop it once and for all. First she approached the Hyderabad city police commissioner, then she approached the State Human Rights Commission and then she went to the Raj Bhavan to complain against the AP Mahila Congress president and MLC Ganga Bhavani and her followers. She fell in the trap laid by the TD leadership but when things failed to yield the desired result, she stopped from rushing to New Delhi with her complaint to the Prime Minister and the President.

The TD leadership used Rajakumari as a political pawn to settle scores with the Congress but there was no response from the common man. After all who is bothered whether Rajakumari is right or Ganga Bhavani is wrong or vice versa. What matters to the common man is peaceful life and sufficient earning to sustain self and family.

BJP to focus on attacking Chandrababu

Interesting as it might sound, the State unit of Bharatiya Janata Party is planning to concentrate on running down Telugu Desam president N Chandrababu Naidu in the coming days, rather than the Congress.

The BJP leaders, who had their executive meeting recently, expressed view that it was Chandrababu Naidu, who was responsible for the sorry state of affairs in the State BJP unit and lack of support to the party in the people. Several leaders felt that the dumping of Telangana issue, just for the sake of Chandrababu Naidu, had cost them heavily in the 2004 elections.

Therefore, the prime target of the State BJP leaders now is Chandrababu Naidu. They are making it a point to start their press conferences with a vitriolic attack on Naidu and his changed policies such as free power to farmers, Rs 2 a kg rice scheme and minority-appeasing policy. More than the Congress leaders, it is the BJP leaders like Vidyasagar Rao and Indrasena Reddy who are exposing Chandrababu. So, it will be a double whammy for Naidu!!

Behind The Scene: YSR engineers split in journalists

The recent High Court judgement quashing the Government Order on allotting housing sites to mediapersons, IAS officers and judges has come as a blessing in disguise for Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhar Reddy.

The High Court ordered that if the government wants to allot house sites to the above sections, it should do it through housing societies, but not through official committees. While it is not a difficult task for the Chief Minister to form housing societies for IAS officers and judicial officers, he has found the judgement an excellent opportunity to engineer a split in the journalist community. There is already a Housing Cooperative Society for journalists, but YSR did not take into confidence while allotting plots to fresh batch of journalists.

Following the latest High Court judgement, the existing jounalists cooperative housing society appealed to the government to continue the process through it. However, YSR did not agree to the proposal, as the society is mostly dominated by journalists from Eenadu. So, he asked the journalists close to him to form another cooperative society through which the plots allotment could be done. This has vertically split the journalists community as pro- and anti-YSR groups. Now, both the groups want to approach the court again. This will delay the plot allotment exercise, which is what YSR wants. A tit for tat for YSR-bashers among the journalists!

Nostalgia: Doubts Raised On Kantha Rao’s Stammering?

This was the news of 1951. Kantha Rao acted in a small role in the film ‘Nirdoshi’. HM Reddy was the producer in that film. He told Kantha Rao not to act in small roles and promised that he would make him hero. But many have expressed doubts on giving hero chance for Kantha Rao saying, “Reddy garu! How can he become hero? He talks with stammering”.

Then Reddy replied, “This is not stage drama. We can edit till we get the output. Kantha Rao has got grace in face. He is disciplined and enthusiastic. He is also energetic. So we have to encourage”.

That’s how Kantha Rao became hero with the film ‘Pratigna’ (1953) and eventually turned folk hero on Telugu screen. This was the first film for Rajanala as villain as well.

YSR breathes easy, Reds disappointed

Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhar Reddy is perhaps the happiest man among all politicians in the State, since Madam Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Dr Manomohan Singh officially announced that there would be no mid-term elections to Lok Sabha and that they were prepared to push the Nuclear deal into the cold storage for the sake of "coalition dharma."

For, he can defer implementation of all his pre-poll sops like Rs 2 a kg rice scheme, announced to woo the voters for the time being. YSR was wondering as to how to implement these schemes since there was no positive response from the Centre on funding them. At the same time, he had the responsibility of ensuring victory for the Congress in the mid-term elections, if they are held. Now that there are no mid-term polls in the near future, YSR can postpone implementation of his promises at a later date and make a fresh announcement just a few months before the next elections to be held as per schedule.

The biggest disappointment is for the Left parties. They thought it would be advantageous for them if the mid-term elections are held. The national leadership of the CPI-M instructed their local leaders to have a tie-up with the Telugu Desam in the mid-term elections and that would have been definitely a serious problem for the Congress. Now, all their hopes are shattered. YSR has heaved a sigh of relief!!

Fact Sheet: Botsa has his mark even in CWC!

Minister for Housing Botsa Satyanarayana is well-known for his manipulating skills and political maneuvering, thanks to his proximity to Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhar Reddy.

Now, it is evident that he has extended his influence to even the Congress high command in New Delhi. Gandhi Bhavan sources say, Botsa played a behind the screen role in securing the membership for Parvatipuram MP Y Kishore Chandra Deo in the prestigious Congress Working Committee, so as to consolidate his position in the district. Though junior to Kishore Chandra Deo in politics, Botsa has managed to gain an upper hand in the district politics, thanks to the rivalry between Kishore and Forest Minister Satrucherla Vijayarama Raju. Relations between Kishore and Satrucharla strained further with the differences erupting in the election of nominated posts which was encashed by Botsa.

So, when Kishore came to the district a couple of days ago, Botsa played a major role in making arrangements for welcoming the new CWC member. The entire town area was bedecked with welcome arches and huge cutouts of Botsa and Kishore. However, the group belonging to Satrucharla abstained from the welcome ceremony.

Venkaiah Naidu to take over TV channel?

Bharatiya Janata Party national vice-president M Venkaiah Naidu is learnt to be evincing interest in entering the electronic media business soon.

According to reliable sources, Venkaiah Naidu is planning to take over the newly launched Telugu channel NTV, originally promoted by Narendranath Chowdary. This channel has a disastrous start with absolutely no professionalism and home work. The TRP ratings were drastically low and many journalists, who joined the channel, deserted it and joined the other channels. It gained the image as a poor cousin of popular TV channel TV9.

Therefore, Chowdary reportedly put up the NTV for sale and Venkaiah Naidu showed interest in taking over. He is contacting his friends in the BJP and also in the media to work out how to transform this channel into a professional one. Hope things work out for him, soon.

Jaipal prefers Miryalguda to Mahbubnagar!

Union Minister for Urban Development S Jaipal Reddy, who prefers to stay in the national capital by maintaining a high profile, has suddenly realised that he is representing a Parliamentary constituency called Miryalguda and that he needs to get elected from there again, if there are mid-term elections.

The feedback he has obtained from his party leaders in Nalgonda, that the people of his constituency are not happy with him, as he hardly attends to their problems. They suggested that it would be better for him to move to his native district Mahbubnagar in the next Lok Sabha elections.

But, Jaipal Reddy knows it would be difficult for him to get elected from Mahbubnagar, because the Telangana sentiment is fast picking up there and the people might not vote for the Congress. Moreover, it would make him antagonise several aspirants in Mahbubnagar, particularly the sitting MP Vithal Rao.

So, he reportedly told his friends that he would contest only from Miryalguda, the safe option. To win back the confidence of his voters, Jaipal Reddy is now coming to the constituency regularly on the weekends, visiting the villages, attending to their problems. He even skipped the Iftar party given by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Delhi and hosted his own Iftar party for the local Muslims in Miryalguda. That is election politics!!

Judicial probe into assets of Reddy, Naidu

Andhra Pradesh chief minister Dr YS Rajashekar Reddy is set to make history by announcing a judicial inquiry into his and his family members’ assets and those of TDP president Mr N Chandrababu Naidu and his family. The official announcement would be made this weekend.

On Monday, Mr Naidu had alleged that Dr Reddy “collects” Rs 1 crore every hour. The next day, Dr Reddy said he was willing to face an inquiry and challenged Mr Naidu to face one himself. On Wednesday, Mr Naidu agreed, but TDP spokesmen insisted on an inquiry by a sitting High Court judge.

Dr Reddy continued discussions for the second day today with such close aides as finance minister Mr K Rosaiah and adviser to government Dr KVP Ramachandra Rao, apart from senior law department officials. Dr Reddy is trying to have an inquiry conducted by a sitting High Court Judge. But law officials told Dr Reddy there is a Supreme Court judgment that sitting judges cannot be spared for any inquiry. Andhra Pradesh High Court over the past 15 years has turned down requests to spare a sitting judge because of work pressure. In the last three-and-a-half years of the Congress government, the High Court turned down two such requests.

“Dr Reddy has decided to order an inquiry. The inquiry will cover assets held by both families in 1978, when they entered politics," a senior aide of Dr Reddy told media.

Meanwhile, senior TDP leader T Devender Goud demanded judicial probe by a sitting judge of Supreme Court or High Court into the assets.

Addressing a press conference here, Goud, a former home minister, sought an all-party meeting to fix the terms of reference for the proposed judicial commission.

Shaking hands is insulting for this Desam leader!

Nobody knows why Telugu Desam president N Chandrababu Naidu has made former minister K Vijayarama Rao as president of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation Telugu Desam unit, but the party activists are highly disappointed with this person.

For, Vijayarama Rao considers himself as a high-profile leader and has never maintained any close relationship with the grassroot party workers. As a result, there is a huge gap between him and the party workers. The other day, a senior leader of the Hyderabad City TD unit, went to meet Vijayarama Rao and had to wait for more than two hours to get the appointment. When Vijayarama Rao came out of his house finally, this leader streched his hand for a shake-hand, but the former did not respond. Apparently felt humiliated, this leader told Vijayarama Rao to learn how to shake hands with the party leaders and workers. "Sir, you are not a police officer now nor are you a minister. You are leading the party in Hyderabad. You should learn shaking hands with the workers, so that they feel intimate to you," he said.

Vijayarama Rao was taken aback and told the leader that he had never shaken hands with anybody, except his superiors in the police department and assured that he would learn this manners.

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.

Behind The Scene: Babu and his 'welfare' patent

This is the intellectual property rights and patents regime. And former chief minister and Telugu Desam president N Chandrababu Naidu, who took pride in being called the chief executive officer of Andhra Pradesh when he was in power, is adept in issues relating to patents and intellectual property rights. Though Chandrababu Naidu is a poor reader, his advisers keep him abreast of latest developments from time to time.

When Chandrababu Naidu comes to know of a new word, he uses it quite often. Perhaps he has a penchant for new words. And the word we are talking about now is patent.

The Telugu Desam leadership claims that it alone had the patent on welfare schemes and no political party in the country had introduced any welfare programme before the birth of the Telugu Desam 25 years ago. It means in other words, India had no welfare programmes from 1947 or earlier till 1983. The Congress leadership, the TD argues, has no right to claim right or patent on welfare schemes. The TD leadership has forgotten that it was the Congress which had declared India a welfare state while framing the Constitution on the country.

Chandrababu Naidu now claims that the Congress is copying his ideas and violating the patent Act by taking up welfare schemes.

More freebies to voters, this time from Lok Satta!!

Looks like all the political parties want to take the voters for a ride by announcing freebies to attract their votes in the mid-term polls. Not only the main parties -- the Congress and the Telugu Desam, every small or big political party is also in the race to fool the people, without understanding the financial implications of such free schemes.

The so-called idealistic party, Lok Satta, established by former bureacrat Jayaprakash Narayan, is also no exception. It has also promised nine-hour free power supply to farmers, if it comes to power in the State. And realising that he has exhausted all the existing schemes, JP has come out with a new free scheme – providing health care facilities to all people free of cost. He is promising that irrespective of the financial status, all the people would get free medical facilities at all government hospitals. There would be no user charges or paid services.

But the whole problem is whether the people would take Lok Satta so seriously. If JP thinks he can come to power by making false promises, he is certainly in fool's paradise. The people are not beggars after all. All that they want is quality of life, even if it is at a cost. They will give their verdict not on the basis of freebies, but on the credibility and performance of the political parties!!