Rakshabandhan became a stronger knot of protection this year in Telangana. On August 7, the festival which is a celebration of sibling love, had sisters handing out helmets to their brothers. Leading the group of women who dotted on their brothers was Kavitha Kalvakuntla, Nizamabad MP and daughter of Chief Minister Chandrasekhar Rao. After tying a colourful Rakhi on K.T. Ramarao’s wrist, she gifted a helmet to her brother, the IT Minister of Telangana.
Ms. Kavitha launched the novel campaign under the title ‘Sisters4change’ to inspire young men to be responsible drivers.
A gift from one’s sister could be a reminder to wear helmet, the campaign logic was indeed inspirational. And thanks to mass mobilisation efforts, several women in the State especially in Ms. Kavitha’s constituency followed her example to make Rakshabandhan a campaign for safe driving.
Perhaps, the men who rode their stellar bikes the next day wore the helmets.
Ghar wapsi rumours
With strong rumours in the political circles about the return of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) MP and former APCC chief, D. Srinivas to the Congress fold, senior Congress leaders had to make some extra effort to dismiss the talk as just rumours.
Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee chief N. Uttam Kumar Reddy categorically said that neither he called up nor Mr. Srinivas called him to discuss the issue. But, the Congress is not shying away from admitting that it would call for return of all the Congressmen who left the party in the last few years for various reasons.
The new AICC in-charge for Telangana, R.C. Khuntia said that party would welcome the former leaders and cadre but would not admit those who were elected on Congress ticket and defected to other parties. With the enhancement of Assembly seats now ruled out, the Congress leaders agree that there would be an influx of leaders from other parties, particularly the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti.
Oppn. likens KCR’s rule to Nizam’s
The Opposition parties are up in arms against the Government for what they claim the ‘repression’ unleashed by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao against the voices that are raised against the lapses in governance.
The Nerella incident where the police allegedly beat up the locals obstructing movement of trucks carrying sand came handy for the Opposition parties to vent their feelings yet again. They claimed that unless prompted by the higher ups, the police would not muster courage for embarking upon such drastic action.
The leaders of Left parties went a step ahead in criticising the Government for suppressing the voices raised against it. The Government’s steps reminded one of the dictatorial regime of the Nizam’s, but even the aristocrat had to beat a retreat after the popular uprising in the form of armed struggle, they asserted. An audacious comparison was indeed given, but there were very few survivors who witnessed the Nizam’s rule.
Complaints season
at CEO’s office
The office of the Chief Electoral Officer has become a venue for the political parties to score brownie points over their rivals.
There were several complaints from Andhra Pradesh over the language being used by leaders of rival parties against others in Nandyal by-elections along with a few charges on misuse of power by the ruling dispensation.
Amidst a slew of poll-related complaints, the CPI (Marxist) leaders too stepped in lodging their protest against Minister K.T. Rama Rao.
Their charge was that the Minister was continuing as director in a private entity in spite of prohibition to hold such posts under Representation of People’s Act.
The CEO Bhanwarlal dutifully forwarded the complaint to the ECI for further examination. But, the complaint naturally left one wondering how did KTR come into picture around this time when the by-poll was actually being held in the neighbouring State.
(Nikhila Henry, R. Ravikanth Reddy, and M. Rajeev)
