Some politicians own a few special traits that attract compliments even from their political adversaries. Union Minister Jairam Ramesh seems to have some liking for TRS chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao even in the thick of political crossfire. When pointed out that TPCC leaders were no match to KCR in countering his verbal onslaught against them, Mr. Ramesh said during a press conference here on Thursday: “Hyderabad ki biryani aur KCR ki jubani bahut mazedar hoten hain” (both the Hyderabad biryani and KCR’s talk are very spicy). Not only the scribes attending the press conference but those accompanying Mr. Ramesh, former bureaucrat Koppula Raju and TPCC spokesperson D. Shravan, could not control their laughter at the witty remarks.
Manifesto released at two places
Being among the first to officially ‘bifurcate’ and set up two units, the BJP is also the first party to release its manifesto for Telangana a few days ago. It followed up with announcing one for the residuary State of AP on Friday. It was released at the party headquarters here by actor and former Union Minister U.V. Krishnam Raju, with its vice-president Seshagiri Rao explaining the salient features. In almost an academic fashion, Prof. Rao outlined how they had taken into consideration the available resources in the Krishna-Godavari basin and existing irrigation systems while drafting the manifesto. Interestingly, it was also released in Visakhapatnam by senior leader M. Venkaiah Naidu and its president-AP, K. Hari Babu at the same time. When asked why they found it necessary for the same manifesto to be released in two locations, almost simultaneously, Prof. Rao said they wanted to make sure that the party’s development-oriented message was communicated to people effectively! “After all, Hyderabad is still ours, being a common capital for 10 years, right?,” quipped another party leader.
Saves them the trouble
Politicians have a habit of chasing one another during election campaigns. If leader X campaigns at a given place, then leader Y must follow suit in an effort to diminish the impact left on the minds of voters by X. While it remains to be seen how successful the strategy turns out for the politicians, it is certainly saving a lot of money for the suppliers of pandals and tents, under which election meetings are held. Dismantling and erecting the pipe structure repeatedly could cost the suppliers, but now that politicians keep returning, they keep it intact until the campaigning ends. You can find the pandal structures intact at DIET Ground in Adilabad, the cattle market at Ichoda, the SPM ground in Kagaznagar, etc. It was TRS president K. Chandrasekhar Rao who first addressed public meetings at these places. Two days, later TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu addressed rallies at the same venues at Kagaznagar and Ichoda, while BJP’s Telangana unit president G. Kishan Reddy attended a public meting at DIET ground. “I am expecting Congress leader Vijayashanti in a day or two,” says G. Narayana, a centring mason at Ichoda as he gives his reason for not removing the pipe structure. He was nevertheless, silent on the question of payment of rent to the owners of the grounds, often some government or quasi-government institution.
Pawan Kalyan who?
As a hugely popular movie star and as brother of matinee idol and Union Minister K. Chiranjeevi, Pawan Kalyan is a household name in the State. Despite opening his political innings with his Jana Sena Party, the ‘power star’ has been seen supporting the BJP-TDP alliance. It is therefore no surprise that his ties with rivals TRS, and its leadership, are sour. In fact, it has always been so. The TRS had once agitated against his controversial movie Camera Man Gangato Rambabu, alleging that it targeted the party leadership. The other day, party chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao gave more evidence of the bad blood between them, taking a dig at the JSP founder. “BJP leader Narendra Modi has been touring Telangana with N. Chandrababu Naidu and one another. Who is that?” he asked other leaders on the dais. When someone mentioned the name Pawan Kalyan, the TRS leader said party workers had informed him that Mr. Kalyan is a film actor, and that he had never seen his movies.
