Shankar Rao's sudden love for NTR

Former Handloom and Textiles Minister Dr P Shankar Rao, demanded that NTR be honoured with Bharat Ratna award for his services to cinema and society. This surprised many at a time when even NTR's own family members were fighting hard for the credit for installing statue of their party founder at parliament hall.

Nandamuri Tarakarama Rao, also fondly referred to as NTR, was an important state leader and the founder of Telugu Desam Party (TDP). He had won the hearts of millions with his remarkable acting skills through cinema and turned out to be the most popular leader of the state. He had introduced novel
ideas like rice at Rs. 2 per kg. But it is being doubted that his successors will be able to bring the long-awaiting Bharat Ratna to NTR.

All of them, including his wife Lakshmi Parvati and his daughter Daggubati Purandeshwar, are currently involved in a dispute pertaining to the credit for installation of NTR’s statute in the Parliament premises. In the midst of this dispute, it seems unlikely the family is even interested in claiming Bharat Ratna for the great leader. The need of the hour is that all of them join hands to focus on a more important issue of Bharat Ratna rather than quarrelling over such trivialities.

Seemandhra stars JP,Lagadapati's battle over Hyd

Telangana fighters always brand Vijayawada MP Lagadapati and even to some extend Jaya Prakash Nayarayan of Lok Satta as staunch seemandhra supporters. However both of them are now engaged in bitter battle over Hyderabad and Telangana much to the delight of telangana supporters. The recent statement of the MP from Vijaywada Lagadapati Rajagopal on Hyderabad Seemandhraites have become quite controversial. The statement was condemned by the Loksatta Convernor Jayaprakash Narayana.

Rajagopal had recently stated in one of his speeches that people belonging from Seemandhra regions,who are currently residing at Hyderabad, would be unsafe, if the demand for Telangana as a separate state was granted.Jayaprakash Narayana, who is also the MLA from Kukatpalli, was talking about the issue of politicsalong the caste-lines and emotional issues being raised as political issues. He urged the need to shift the focus on politics based on reason, which is effected through political participation. He expressed his disappointment at the controversial statement of Lagadapati and held it to be an example of
inducement of fear. JP was supporting the Press Council Chairman Justice Markandaya Katju who recently remarked that the majority population in Inida still voted along caste and communal lines.

However, JP, as is Jayaprakash Narayana also called, did not have encouraging words to say for the Telangana movement. He was of the view that the statement of the Telangana movement that the people of Telangana have been looted by the people of Seemandhra only led to aggravation of resentment and dissatisfaction. The famous Tollywood director SS Rajamouli, who respects JP and his ideals, is an active participant of the Surajyam movement. He mentioned that the chaos going on in Tollywood about casteism and regionalism is proving to be hindrance to the production of films.

No T issue at party convention

The Congress leaders are seriously thinking whether to discuss the Telangana issue or not at the State-Level Party Convention being held on December 16.

The issue came up for discussion at the meeting held on Thursday with the ministers and legislators of Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy districts at Gandhi Bhavan. PCC Chief Botcha Satyanarayana discussed with these leaders about the arrangements and organization of the Convention.

Botcha advised the party leaders to bring at least 500 party activists from each constituency. At this juncture, Jubilee Hills MLA P. Vishnuvardhan Reddy asked the PCC Chief what the leadership would tell the cadre at the convention about the Telangana issue.

Responding to Vishnuvardhan Reddy’s question, PCC Chief said the issue cannot be solved at the State level and an all-party meeting on Telangana issue would be held in New Delhi on December 28 to solve the issue. Botcha asked the leaders not to raise the Telangana issue in the party convention.

Later, Major Industries Minister Dr J Geetha Reddy and MLC Indrasen Reddy asked the PCC president what the leadership would say if someone raised the Telangana issue in the convention. Botcha replied that he would convince the leaders not to obstruct the meeting with ‘Jai Telangana’ or ‘Samaikyandhra’ slogans.

When MLC Yadava Reddy raised the issue of inviting two representatives from each party by the Union Home Ministry and that would send wrong signals to people about the party, Botcha said there was no need to discuss about the letters sent by the Union Home Ministry inviting two representatives from each party. He also said that he would bring this issue to the notice of the Union Home Ministry.

Vultures ruling the state

Sharmila, late chief minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy’s daughter and sister of YSRCP president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy on Thursday alleged that the State was being ruled by vultures.

As a part of her ‘Maro Praja Prasthanam”, Sharmila addressed people at Ravirala village in Ranga Reddy district. Speaking on the occasion, Sharmila reminded that her father had launched several welfare schemes without increasing charges and taxes burdening the people. She alleged that Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy was creating hardship to the people by indiscriminately hiking the charges and taxes.

CBI opposes interim bail to Mopidevi

CBI has opposed interim bail to former minister Mipidevi Venkata Ramana to go to Sabarimalai.

CBI court has on Thursday heard arguments on the bail petition filed by Mopidevi, charged of involvement in the disproportionate assets case against Y S Jaganmohan Reddy. While the former minister has stated that he has been going to Sabarimalai since the last 19 years and urged the court to give him bail as he has already taken Deeksha, CBI has argued that if he came out at this time, he would influence investigation.

Governor goes to Delhi to discuss Dharmana

Governor ESL Narasimhan has gone to New Delhi on Thursday morning.

It is learnt that he is going to discuss Minister Dharmana Prasada Rao issue with the senior leaders at Delhi.

It may be mentioned that the state cabinet has rejected permission to the CBI to prosecute Dharmana, named accused in the Vanpic case. The file is now with the governor for disposal.

Narasimhan is also likely to discuss about the Telangana issue in Delhi.

Bitter fight for TRS crown

According to inside information, trouble is brewing in TRS party led by KCR with bitter fight starting between his son KTR and nephew Harish Rao. The competition for the title of the best successor in TRS party has begun and the same is between K TRama Rao, son of K Chandrasekhar Rao, and Harish Rao, who Chandrasekhar Rao’s nephew .

The current party president, the enigmatic K Chandrasekhar Rao or KCR, is reaching old age and allegedly he has been suffering from few health issues as well. He has been said to be absent from few of the public meetings because of this very reason. Of late, it has also been noticed that he restrains from giving long speeches.

If this situation continues, it will soon be time to change the leadership and the need to find an appropriate successor. So the successors- in-line are K T Rama Rao and Harish Rao. Speaking hierarchically, KTR is son of KCR and might end up inheriting the position. However, there is also Harish Rao who has been associated prominently with the party right from the stage of its inception. Not only that, he has also been instrumental in building the party cadre from scratch and providing strength and support to the party. Indeed, his support to the party cannot be ignored or neglected.

Hari Krishna angry over both brothers-in-law

TDP leader and MP Nandamuri Hari Krishna has expressed anger at both his brothers-in-law Chandra Babu Naidu and Dr. Venkateswara Rao. He said both were dragging the image of the family to roads, over the statue of his late father N T Rama Rao.

Stating that it was the desire of all the family members that NTR's statue should be erected in the Parliament, Hari Krishna said it was not important as to who was responsible for it. He said it was improper on the part of any one to politicize who was instrumental for it. He also felt that it was just a family matter and neither the TDP nor the sons-in-law (Naidu and Daggubati) should intervene in it.

Hari Krishna has also said that the party's image has suffered because of three MPs abstaining from the voting on the FDIs in the Rajya Sabha. He said because of what they had done, they were unable to stand upright and show their faces to other opposition members.

TDP MLA Vanita meets Jagan in jail

Taneti Vanita suspended MLA of TDP from the Gopalapuram constituency of west Godavari district has met Y S Jaganmohan Reddy in the Chanchalguda jail. Vanita who has already announced her decision to leave TDP and join the YSRCP has reportedly discussed her future with Jagan.

Speaking to the media later, Vanita said that all the welfare schemes introduced by the late Chief Minister Dr. Y S Rajasekhara Reddy have been diluted by the Kiran Kumar Reddy government. She said only Jagan was capable of implementing YSR's schemes effectively.

It may be recalled that the TDP has suspended Vanita on October 31.

Gopichand "Mentally harassing"!!!

India's ace shuttler Jwala Gutta Monday welcomed Bombay High Court's observation that it is ethically wrong for chief national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand to run a private academy in Hyderabad.

The women's doubles player also questioned Gopichand Academy for collecting huge money from the budding players despite the fact that it came up on a government land and is funded by the Sports Authority of India (SAI)

She told reporters here that the academy was running fully on commercial lines though it was the government which allotted land for it and was also giving the funds.

The 28-year-old alleged that only those who get coaching at the academy were being selected for the tournaments. "I know a player who was among the top five but was not sent to nationals because he is from LB Stadium," said

Jwala supported Prajakta Sawant, who dragged Gopichand to court, alleging that Gopichand was "mentally harassing" her by not allowing her to participate in the All India National Coaching Camp in Hyderabad. The Mumbai shuttler alleged that Gopichand was out to ruin her career by promoting only those players who train at his academy.

Though a relative of Gopichand, Jwala never had good terms with him. She trains at LB Stadium here under former national chief coach Syed Mohammed Arif.

"Arif sir also had an opportunity to start an academy but he was never interested in turning badminton into commercial activity."

Satyam Raju gets relief in high court

Satyam Computers former chairman Ramalinga Raju has got relief from the attachment order issued by the Enforcement Directorate on his properties. 

The high court has on Tuesday stayed the orders of the Enforcement Directorate attaching the properties.

It may be recalled that the ED has issued orders attaching properties worth Rs. 822 cr. in connection with the Satyam Computers scam. Ramalinga Raju has challenged this decision in the high court.

Daggupati blasts CBN on NTR statue issue

Congress MLA Daggubati Venkateshwar Rao has lashed out at the TDP Chief N Chandrababu Naidu in regard to installation of former chief minister late NTR statue in the Parliament and said that the installation was taking place just because of efforts of Union Minister D Purandeshwari.

Speaking to the media at CLP office here on Monday, Daggubati cautioned not to make worthless criticism against Purandeshwari. He questioned as to what Chandrababu, who used to say that he had great influence in New Delhi, did during his nine-year rule. He said that Chandrababu never taken care of installation of NTR statue in the Parliament.

He said that Chandrababu was also making an issue alleging that the Centre was not awarding the ‘Bharat Rathna’ to NTR. He also questioned Chandrababu as to why he failed to name after NTR the Airport during his rule. “It is ridiculous on the part of Chandrababu to ask the Congress Government now about it”, he alleged. He said that the Chandrababu Government entered into an agreement with the GMR Group to construct the Airport but Chandrababu had not proposed with the GMR to name after NTR to the Airport. He alleged that Chandrababu is misguiding the people criticizing Purandeshwari.

Aishwarya all praise for Modi

Bollywood beauty Aishwarya Rai was all praise for the Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi. She said she was amazed at the fast pace with which the state was advancing under the leadership of Modi.

It may be noted that Aishwarya’s father-in-law Amitabh Bachchan is the brand ambassador of Gujarat. This remark of the beauty would surely boost the morale of Modi, who is already leading in the election race as per several surveys.

All-party meet will not be postponed

Union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde has made it clear that there is no proposal to postpone the all-party meeting on Telangana, scheduled to be held on December 28. He said postponement would be considered only if all the political parties ask for it.

'T' Congress MPs Manda Jagannatham, Vivek and Rajaiah have met Vivek met Shinde and requested him not to postpone the meeting, in view of reports that the Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy and the PCC Chief Botsa Satyanarayana had sought postponement because of the World Telugu Conference.

Jayaprada to join YSRC ?

Former actress and Rampur MP Jaya Prada has said that she has decided to come back to state politics. She has however said that she has not yet decided which party to join.

Jaya Prada has participated in a private programme here on Sunday. Speaking on the occasion, she said she had not yet taken decision on her future plans as elections were still far away.

Jaya Prada has earlier represented the TDP in Rajya Sabha. However, she has left the party because of her differences with the party chief Chandra Babu Naidu.

She has joined the Samajwadi Party and was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Rampur constituency of UP. However, as her mentor Amar Singh has diferred with the party chief Mulayam Singh and was later expelled from the party, Jaya Prada also fell out. She was also expelled from the SP. Though Amar Singh has launched a new party, it has flopped during the recent elections. Now she has no future in UP. With this there has been debate on her future plans. She has indicated that she was thinking of a come back to state politics on an earlier occasion also.

According to speculations, Jaya Prada has no chance of joining the Congress. She also cannot rejoin the TDP say some sources. However, she has recently stated that Chandra Babu Naidu was a great administrator, giving rise to speculations that she might return to TDP. However, sources say that there are strong indications that she might join the YSR Congress, as most of the TDP leaders were already joining the new party. It is being said that Jaya Prada was thinking of joining the YSR Congress because of the strong winds blowing in favor of that party.

Jaya Prada is however keeping her cards close to her heart. Whenever media asks her about her future plans, she has been replying that she could not talk about AP politics as of now as she represented UP and was engaged in politics of that state. Sources point out that she has been considering both the options of joining the TDP or the YSRCP.

Chandrababu's counter to Purandareswari

The TDP chief Chandra Babu Naidu has written an open letter to the fans of the founder of his party late N T Rama Rao, countering the allegations made by his daughter and union minister Purandareswari against him.

Alleging that Purandareswari was trying to politicize the issue of erection of NTR’s statue in Parliament, he has questioned the union minister why she had not questioned about the statue when Dr. Y S Rajasekhara Reddy was alive. He said she should also explain why she had kept quiet then and opened her mouth now. Naidu has alleged that there was no mention of NTR’s name in any of the books brought out on the occasion of the World Telugu conference, Naidu has alleged that though such great insult was heaped on her father, Purandareswari was not talking about it. He has also questioned why Purandareswari had not brought pressure on the central government to name the Shamshabad airport after N T Rama Rao.

He said the letter written by Purandareswari was just a pack of lies.

It may be recalled that Purandareswari has written an open letter to the fans of NTR making a serious charge against Naidu that he was responsible for blocking erection of the statue in Parliament. She said in the letter that it was due to her efforts that the Speaker Meira Kumar has given clearance to setting up the statue in Parliament. She said she had even given a model and got it approved by the committee without divulging the information as she feared that Naidu would once again throw spanner in her works.

Rajyasabha MP Sujana Chowdary resigns !

Congress ruled UPA Government had safely crossed the voting barrier on Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) Bill in retail sector introduced in the Parliament few days ago, but the Opposition party in the State TDP, which was already facing troubles, was in neck deep crisis after the voting on FDIs. The reason was the three TDP Rajya Sabha members T Devender Goud, Gundu Sudha Rani and Sujana Chowdari  abstaining  from  voting,  attracting  severe criticism from not only opposition parties but also from own party leaders.

TDP Chief N Chandrbabu Naidu summoned them to give explanation and within the TDP, several leaders have been criticizing the action of the three members and demanded them to tender resignation and public apology. Following this, the three members have given their explanation to the party Chief giving various reasons for their absence. Senior leader Devender Goud said that he took the permission from the party Chief and went for medical check up. Devender Goud also indulged in counter attack on Party leaders. Gundu Sudha Rani said that she came to Hyderabad on the day of voting on FDI to console her relative who was under going treatment. She also said that she missed the return flight from  Hyderabad.

The third member Sujana Chowdari, who was basically an industrialist, met Chandrababu Naidu at Adilabad and has given his explanation on Saturday. Speaking to the media later, he said that it was a mistake on his part to abstain from  voting. He also said that he has no business links with the Congress party leaders.

But the party leaders were not sparing their criticism on three Rajya Sabha members alleging that the TDP was losing credibility just because of such leaders.

Responding to the unexpected criticism within the party, Sujana Chowdari tendered his resignation on Sunday. He sent his resignation to the party Chief. He said later that he was feeling uneasy with the consequences taking place in the party. He also said that he was already given explanation to the party Chief but some leaders in the party were making it as an issue intentionally. Sujana Chowdari also said that he will continue in the party though he tendered resignation to the Rajya Sabha seat.

Those 3 should unconditionally apologize

TDP senior leader Payyavula Keshav has said that it was painful that three MPs of his party had not taken part in the voting on the FDIs in Rajya Sabha.

Talking to the media here on Saturday, he has demanded that they should own their folly and apologize unconditionally to the people and the party.

He has said that the sentiments of lakhs of party workers were hurt because of what they had done. Stating that it was improper to act against the policies of the party, he said they should not damage the party’s image because of their personal interests.

CBN must reveal package Cong gave him

TDP rebel MLA Amaranatha Reddy has alleged that the party Chief Chandra Babu Naidu has mortgaged the party to Congress leaders at Delhi. He has demanded that CBN should immediately quit party president post.

Another rebel MLA Praveen Kumar Reddy has demanded that Naidu should reveal to the people the package he had received from the Congress party in return for making TDP MPs abstain from FDI voting.

Talking to the media here on Saturday, he said Naidu was transforming the party into currency notes. He has also questioned if Naidu had the courage to divulge his call data for the past 15 days. Stating that the MPs were telling others in private talk that Naidu made them scapegoats, Praveen has questioned if this was not true. He said by supporting Congress on the FDI issue, Naidu tried to get political benefit.

Court contempt case against KTR rejected

TRS leader and Sircilla MLA K Tarakarama Rao got respite on Friday in a Contempt of the Court case with regard to TNGOs’ Housing Society case.

It may be recalled that KTR had made some remarks against the case when the Court ordered the State government to conduct an inquiry into then TNGOs’ president Swamy Goud’s alleged involvement in illegal activities of the Housing Society.

High Court Justice C V Nagarjuna Reddy took KTR’s remarks serious and ordered the Registry to inquire into the issue. The High Court Bench presided over by Chief Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghosh dismissed the petition prepared by the Registry following the orders of Justice C V Nagarjuna Reddy.