Jagan ‘stopped’ in his tracks by YSR

Vijayawada: Is Y S Jaganmohan Reddy wary of group politics in the ruling Congress? Is he restrained by his chief minister-father YS Rajasekhara Reddy on making tours? Whatever may be the reason, the ‘rising son’ of the state, Jagan has cancelled his visit to Krishna and Guntur districts scheduled for August 25.
In fact, there was a flurry of activity in the Congress circles ever since the cadres came to know about his visit to the city to attend the marriage of a youth Congress leader in Guntur. On learning the news, leaders from Krishna too exerted pressure on him to spare some time in Vijayawada. But, youth leaders from Palnadu who secured his promise to visit Macherla did not agree to the proposal.
A group of leaders, led by local ZPTC member Pinnelli Ramakrishna Reddy, told Jagan that they have already made arrangements for a ‘grand welcome’. Meanwhile, proprietor of construction giant Ramky group Ramakrishna Reddy, a partner of Jagan in real estate business holdings, reportedly suggested Jagan to visit Sattenapalle to inaugurate charity works taken up by their foundation.
Guntur market committee chairman L Appi Reddy, who planned Jagan’s visit to the city, too wanted to keep him busy. As the rush of invitations kept growing, Jagan reportedly said he was going to Mumbai for a board meeting of Raghuram cements. But, rumours are rife in the party circles that the CM asked Jagan to wait for some time before plunging into active politics.

Behind The Scene: Why PJR is lying low!

Looks like the worries of the Chief Minister, Mr YS Rajasekhar Reddy, are over now. The main dissident in the Congress in the State, Khairatabad legislator P Janardhan Reddy is lying low. Another MLA M Sashidhar Reddy is also keeping mum. Suddenly all the dissident elements including MP Sarve Satyanarayana, MLA P Shankar Rao and MP Madhu Yashki Goud have decided to keep the dissident activity under wraps. No one understands why they are keeping quiet. Is it the calm before the calm. Let's wait and see.
Sources point out that AICC Chief Sonia Gandhi has acted tough and this explains for the silence of these leaders. Only time will tell, whether their silence is because of fear of Sonia or it is calm before the storm.

Spy Report : Lagadapati emulating Chandrababu!

Vijayawada MP and firebrand industrialist Lagadapati Rajagopal seems to be emulating former Chief Minister and Telugu Desam president N Chandrababu Naidu in "back-stabbing" his father-in-law Parvathaneni Upendra.

There is a lot of drama in this episode. Upendra played a prominent role in the early days of Telugu Desam foundation and was a close associate of its founder-president N T Rama Rao. On the other hand, Rajagopal has been in the Congress right from the beginning, like Chandrababu Naidu. While Naidu differed with NTR because the latter married Lakshmi Parvathi, who was dominating the TD politics, Upendra was angry with Lagadapati, because the latter has was allegedly having illicit relationship with a woman public relations officer in the police department. Because of her, Lagadapati started ignoring his wife (Upendra's daughter).

Of late, Lagadapati has been dominating the Vijayawada politics, completely sidelining Upendra, who sacrificed his seat for his son-in-law in 2004 general elections. Now, Upendra feels he has been stabbed in the back by Lagadapati, just as NTR suffered backstabbing from Chandrababu Naidu!

CPM-MIM fight behind Tasleema attack?

The CPM and the MIM have been fighting against each other for the last three years to establish their supremacy in old city of Hyderabad.
There have been instances of clashes, often violent. But the fight has assumed serious proportions on Thursday when MIM attacked Tasleema Nasreen, the controversial Bangla writer.
The MIM wants to drive home the message back home in its constituencies that the Communists have befriended Tasleema Nasreen who has written against Islam and Muslims. They want to tell their voters that the Communists had sided with Tasleema and the MIM is the real champion of the minority community.
But the MIM set a bad precedent by attacking the organisers and the writer at the book release function in Hyderabad.

Fact Sheet: Left doublespeak on land, Tasleema!

The Communists think that they can get away with anything. First they created trouble for the Congress government in the State through a "bhoo poratam" (struggle for land distribution). This led to police firing resulting in the death of seven persons at Mudigonda. The communists bayed for the blood of the chief minister, Dr YS Rajasekhar Reddy.
They conveniently forgot that a similar land struggle back home in West Bengal led to several deaths in police firing.
It was the Communist government in West Bengal which had banned controversial Bangla writer Tasleema Nasreen's book. Now the same communists speak of freedom of expression.
What is good for the goose should also be good for the gander.

Spy Report: Lagadapati emulating Chandrababu!

Vijayawada MP and firebrand industrialist Lagadapati Rajagopal seems to be emulating former Chief Minister and Telugu Desam president N Chandrababu Naidu in "back-stabbing" his father-in-law Parvathaneni Upendra.

There is a lot of drama in this episode. Upendra played a prominent role in the early days of Telugu Desam foundation and was a close associate of its founder-president N T Rama Rao. On the other hand, Rajagopal has been in the Congress right from the beginning, like Chandrababu Naidu. While Naidu differed with NTR because the latter married Lakshmi Parvathi, who was dominating the TD politics, Upendra was angry with Lagadapati, because the latter has was allegedly having illicit relationship with a woman public relations officer in the police department. Because of her, Lagadapati started ignoring his wife (Upendra's daughter).

Of late, Lagadapati has been dominating the Vijayawada politics, completely sidelining Upendra, who sacrificed his seat for his son-in-law in 2004 general elections. Now, Upendra feels he has been stabbed in the back by Lagadapati, just as NTR suffered backstabbing from Chandrababu Naidu!

MIM activists rough up Taslima Nasreen in Hyderabad

HYDERABAD: Controversial Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen was on Thursday roughed up by MIM activists who stormed into a book release function, injuring a Telugu writer and a press photographer.

Nasreen, here to release the Telugu translation of her latest book 'Shodh', escaped unhurt as organisers and journalists shielded her and escorted her to safety.

A group of over 40 MIM workers, led by party MLAs Afsar Khan, Ahmed Pasha and Mouzam Khan, barged into the press club at Somajiguda when the function was about to end.

Hurling abuse and shouting slogans, the MIM workers surged menacingly towards the dais as a stunned Nasreen looked on.

They threw papers and books at Nasreen. In the melee, Telugu writer N Innaiah, the organiser of the function and president of the rationalist organisation Centre for Inquiry, was injured along with a press photographer.

Alert organisers and journalists covering the event threw a protective ring around Nasreen and took her to an adjoining room.

The MIM activists, who demanded that Nasreen should leave immediately, broke windows and damaged furniture at the venue.

Police then reached the spot and dispersed them.

The three MLAs from the city and their supporters were taken to Banjara Hills police station, Deputy Commissioner of Police M Madhusudhan Reddy said.

The manager of the Press Club filed a complaint with police against the attackers.

A large number of mediapersons gathered at the press club and protested against the behaviour of the MIM activists. They sought stringent action against the MLAs and their supporters.

Later, a delegation of journalists led by Indian Journalists Union (IJU) secretary general K Srinivasa Reddy and Andhra Pradesh Union of Working Journalists (APUWJ) leader D Amar met Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and sought stringent action against the culprits.

The MIM, which has considerable influence in the old city area, is represented in the Lok Sabha by Asaduddin Owaisi and has five members in the assembly.

Digvijay Singh, the Congress general secretary in-charge of party affairs in Andhra Pradesh, condemned the incident and said such attacks had no place in a liberal society.

The CPI state council termed the incident as an "attack on the freedom of expression by Muslim fundamentalists" and demanded the immediate arrest of the MIM legislators and their supporters.

Cong wooing women well in advance

The elections to the State Assembly are still 20 months away, but the ruling Congress has already begun wooing the women electorate with all the pre-election sops like distribution of sarees and blouses, as if the election is tomorrow.
In several districts, the beneficiaries under Indiramma housing scheme are getting more than what they have asked for. Under this scheme, the house site documents are given in the name of women. Along with the pattas, the beneficiaries are being given a saree, blouse piece, bangles, kumkum, betel leaves and nut powder.
Not only this, food is being served to the women and those accompanying them if they are struck at the venue after 12.00 noon. In fact Chief Minister Dr YS Rajasekhar Reddy expressed surprise when pattas are given with sarees when he launched the distribution during his visit to Nellore on Sunday. Local MLA A Vivekananda Reddy told the Chief Minister that it would be given to all the beneficiaries, as part of the tradition.
And the bill for providing food as well as other items like saree and blouses is being footed by the local municipal authorities!!

Behind The Scene: Ramoji empire crumbling!

Looks like Eenadu group chairman Ramoji Rao's empire is gradually crumbling. The orders passed by Revenue Tribunal declaring 1363 acres of land under possession of Ramoji group as ceiling land and asking Ramoji Rao to surrender the land to the government immediately sent shockwaves not only in his family, but also in the entire group.
It was a hot topic for discussion among the employees of Eenadu and ETV and there was an element of insecurity among them. The question that was doing rounds among those employees was: what would be their fate, if Margadarsi and Ramoji Film City collapse simultaneously. Does Ramoji Rao have the capacity to withstand this disaster. News was that even Blackstone, who was expected to take over part of the equity in Ramoji group, has now backed out.
Interestingly, not a single story appeared in Eenadu about the Revenue Tribunal order on Thursday, while all other newspapers blew it up on front pages. Indications are that many employees have already starting making plans to look for greener pasteurs, before they become part of the bankruptcy!

Buzz: Jumbo committee exposes Naidu weakness

The constitution of a jumbo State executive of the Telugu Desam with 176 members on Wednesday has thoroughly exposed the hollowness of its president N Chandrababu Naidu's leadership.
In the State committee, Naidu has accommodated everybody, who he thinks have the capacity to become nuisance value in the coming days. To defend his action, he tried to put up a show saying he had to satisfy all the sections, particularly BCs, SCs and STs, while constituting the committee. First of all, it is not a Cabinet and there is no additional benefit or monetary gains these leaders would get, except that they could seek positions if the TD comes to power. So, there is no need for any caste balancing in the party posts.
Secondly, there will be no work division in such a big committee and particularly in a party like Telugu Desam, there is nothing that the party leaders can do, as all the decisions are taken and all the talk is done only by Naidu and rest are all only listeners.
Even in the so-called politburo, only Naidu's word prevails and there will be none to differ with him. Those who can question his decisions, like Kotagiri Vidyadhar Rao or Kadiam Srihari, are kept out of politburo. In fact, Naidu reportedly thought of taking even Devender Goud out of politburo, but feared that it would trigger a revolt in the party in Telangana region.
So, Naidu was scared of any making major changes in the party committee, but for inclusion of Harikrishna in the politburo!

Land Tribunal news is no news for Ramoji’s Eenadu!

The orders passed by the RDO of Ranga Reddy East Division T Manikyala Rao on the excess holding of lands by him is no news for Eenadu and ETV. The story does not find mention anywhere in the paper. Not even a single column tucked away in the inside pages!
It reminds one of the Telugu saying “Pillu Kallu Moosuku Paalu Taagithe, Thanai Evaru Choodatledu Anukuntundi” (A cat will drink milk with its eyes closed thinking that no one is watching it).
So the chief editor of Eenadu may be under the impression that if the story is not published in Eenadu, then nobody will ever come to know about it.For late comers, the story is that the tribunal has found that Ramoji Rao and his group are in possession of about 1,380 acres of excess land, which is in violation of the AP Land Reforms (Ceiling on Agricultural Holdings) rules 1974. The tribunal has issued a notice to Ramoji Rao and has given 15 days time to respond.

Naidu places his son's marriage card on Balaji's feet

Tirumala, Aug 8: The former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and Telugu Desam Party(TDP) President N Chandrababu Naidu today placed the first Invitation card of his son Lokesh's marriage at the feet of Lord Venkateswara and sought his blessings at Tirumala temple.

Earlier, Mr Naidu, who flew here along with his wife and TDP founder late N T Ramarao's daughter Bhuvaneswari from Hyderabad to Tirupati yesterday, was received by Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD)Joint Executive Officer G Balaramaiah and temple Deputy Executive Officer Prabhakar in the temple.

Mr Naidu offered worship to the Lord, after the Archananthana Darshan (AAD) in the sanctum sanctorum and later deposited the wedding card in Srivari Hundi.

Lokesh would marry cine actor Balakrishna's daughter Brahmani on August 26 in Hyderabad.

Later, the TTDP supremo visited Tirupati and left for Hyderabad by air, the party sources said.

Ramoji asked to surrender surplus 1500 acres land

In what is seen as a major bow to the image of Ramoji Rao and the biggest setback in his life, is the verdict delivered by the Land Tribunal today. The verdict comes after about nine months of hearing. In the order, the tribunal has said that Ramoji Rao possesses about 1804 acres of land. This is in excess of the stipulated 500 acres. The land holding is spread across Film city, Shamshabad, Chittoor, Kankipadi and other place in the state.

The land is in the names of RFC, Eenadu, Margadarsi, Ch Kiran, Ch Suman, Dolphin hotels and other group entities. With this order, Ramoji Rao now has no option but to surrender the excess land that could be up to 1,500 acres.

The tribunal passed the orders and has given Ramoji Rao 15 days time to respond. If the fails to respond, the tribunal will have the right to take back the lands.

The only concession that Ramoji Rao can expect is that he can decide on which land to keep and which land to surrender. The choice of retaining 500 acres of land vests with Ramoji Rao. More details about the tribunal’s verdict are awaited.

Dutt given `manual hard work' in jail; to do painting

Pune: Actor Sanjay Dutt, sentenced to six-year rigorous imprisonment in 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, has been given "manual hard work" at Yerawada Central Jail but he expressed keeness for painting , official sources said.

Though the nature of the job given to Dutt was not disclosed, the sources said it could be anything under work options available to convicts such as carpentry (which includes cane work), textile, painting, bakery, printing press, leather work, farming, powerloom/handloom, motor garage and kitchen in the jail industry.

The 48-year-old actor, convicted under the Arms Act for possessing illegal weapons, is said to have expressed his desire to get involved in painting work, an official source told PTI on condition of anonymity.

"It is not that a convict serving rigorous imprisonment at Yerawada Jail is expected to stick to just one job. He can ask for a change in work as per his inclination and aptitude," the sources noted.

The prisoners get their prescribed allowance under different work categories.

The prison, housing around 3,000 inmates, gets an annual revenue of over Rs one crore by way of the sale of various products made available through its outlets, they said.

Meanwhile, the jail authorities have denied any special treatment or concessions were given to the visitors Dutt had on Monday - his sister Namrata and friend Manyata - as well as the team of lawyers from Mumbai as reported in the media.

"For us, Dutt happens to be just one of hundreds of jail inmates serving their sentence on conviction," Satish Mathur, Inspector-General, Prisons, said.

Harikrishna gets berth in TD politburu

Former chief minister and Telugu Desam president N Chandrababu Naidu, who does not believe in giving plum posts to relatives, has finally changed his well established principles and rules. He has included his brother-in-law and former minister N Harikrishna into the party politburo, the highest decision making body of the Telugu Desam.

But it is to be seen how Harikrishna will function as one of the important members of the party politburo. Harikrishna is known for his short temper and Chandrababu Naidu does not tolerate anyone questioning his authority. It is going to be clash of titans.

Inside sources point out that Chandrababu Naidu has bent rules to benefit Harikrishna for two reasons: Harikrishna was instrumental in arranging the wedding of Chandrababu Naidu's son N Lokesh with film actor-brother N Balakrishna's daughter Brahmani.

The second most important reason is that Chandrababu needs the support of some one from the NTR family if he wants to make some forays into the next Assembly elections. Several surveys by Chandrababu Naidu show that the party's position is weak and it needs to be strengthened. So who is the best ratha-sarathy other than Harikrishna. Chandrababu Naidu has no choice but to opt for his brother-in-law for the plum post.

Fact Sheet: Babu gets 10 mouths for publicity

Former chief minister and Telugu Desam president N Chandrababu Naidu has appointed as many as 10 official spokespersons for the party.

The TD used to have just a couple of spokesperson and after losing power, he increased the number to half a dozen. Now he has increased the number of spokespersons to 10.

Telugu Desam is perhaps the only Opposition political party in the world to have as many as 10 spokespersons. Chandrababu Naidu believes in publicity and that's the reason why he has chosen so many mouths to speak out on a variety of public issues. With the election fever already catching up the Congress and the Telugu Desam in the State, 20 months ahead of the Assembly polls, the TD supremo feels that so many mouths will add to the party's campaign.

But political observers feel that 10 spokesperson for a party which is not in power will create utter confusion and unless there's no proper coordination there will be chaos.

Fact Sheet: Go Left way, Naidu tells cadres!

At last, Telugu Desam president N Chandrababu Naidu has taken a leaf out of the Communists' book in launching agitations and win the people's support.

He realised that the Mudigonda incident has shaken the Congress edifice in the State and drew nation-wide attention, while there was little response to the hungama created by the TD legislators at Obulapuram mines, which nobody acknowledged. So, he has, of late, started taking lessons to the party cadres on how to launch agitations. "Unless there are arrests, lathi charge or cases it can not be called as an agitation," Chandrababu Naidu told his party workers at Chittoor on Tuesday.

He encouraged them to agitate over peoples problems and bring pressure on the officials to resolve the issues. He assured his support if cases are foisted against them or in case if they are arrested. He enquired about the strategy adopted by the left parties during the recent bhuporatam and expressed surprise over the failure of his party men, who are more than left party workers in numbers, to make an impact though the agitations.

Intellectuals come to TRS rescue again!

The pro-Telangana intellectuals, who have been keeping themselves away from the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) since the Karimnagar elections thanks to the highhanded behaviour of its president K Chandrasekhar Rao, have now come to the rescue of TRS again in the Singareni Collieries union elections.

To start with, revolutionary balladeer Gaddar has been touring the coal belt areas to ignite the Telangana sentiment among the workers again, He is taking out peace yathras and organising cultural programmes at various places to propagate Telangana feeling among the people of coal belt areas in general and Singareni workers in particular.

On the other hand the programmes and regular meetings organized by 'Telangana Vidyavanthula Vedika' also galvanized Singareni workers behind the separate Telangana state demand by creating awareness about the need of separate Telangana state. The people are being brainwashed by various organizations regarding importance of winning of Telangana Boggu Gani Karmika Sangham in the elections to protect Singareni from various forces.

The TRS now hopes to repeat the Karimanagar byelections show in the Singareni polls. It feels that recent road shows by Chandrashekar Rao in the Coal belt areas and campaign by cultural troops at mines further strengthen Telangana sentiment among the workers.

YSR plans to nip BC Front in the bud

With State intelligence authorities indicated to the government about an imminent impact of the newly-formed BC United Front on the Congress prospects in 2009 elections, Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhar Reddy has immediately started measures to woo the BCs and is all set to announce a major package for them.

As a first step, the Chief Minister came out with a proposal for reservations to BCs in in promotional posts in the services of both State and Central Governments. He wrote a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to take legal and legislative initiatives in this regard to pave way for reservations to them. Pointing out that reservation to BCs at the entry level in Government services is not enough, he asked the Centre to amend the constitution to provide reservations to BCs even in promotions.

Citing reasons for his plea, Dr Reddy said people belonging to backward classes form a very substantial part of population of the State. Despite the fact that they possess most of the traditional skills and services, much remains to be done for their social and educational advancement, the Chief Minister wrote.

YSR's surprise letter indicates Congress attempts to ensure complete sway over the Backward Classes in the wake of polarisation of political forces, struggle for land and other issues. Naturally, he wants to pre-empt the BCs from forming a separate party that would be last nail in the Congress coffin.

Telangana Cong meet, a futile exercise

The Telangana Regional Congress Committee meeting, to be held on August 12, has virtually no issues to discuss, but for praising the initiatives taken by the Y S Rajasekhar Reddy government for the development of Telangana on all fronts.

The meeting is being convened under pressure from some Telangana MLAs, who are getting uneasy over the latest developments on Telangana front: the immense damage caused to the Congress party in Telangana after the Mudigonda firing incident, the rising discontent among the party cadres about lack of progress on Telangana State formation front, failure to implement GO 610 and so on. There is a fear among the Congress MLAs in Telangana that they might not get relected in the 2009 elections, if there is no major initiative from the government for Telangana.

However, Gandhi Bhavan sources say, there are no great expectations about the TRCC meeting. As usual, Digvijay Singh comes from Delhi, praises the Chief Minister and gives a call to the TRCC leaders to strengthen the hands of the Chief Minister. At the most, the TRCCC leaders would ask government to spend Rs 9500 crore generated through sale of lands in and around Hyderabad for the development of Telangana region only and should not be included in the State budget, sources said.