Andhra Pradesh Neta Natter | ‘Crusader’ VVL Now Sups With Shadowy Operators

Former CBI joint director VV Lakshminarayana, who was once portrayed as an anti-corruption crusader by some media outlets supporting the Telugu Desam, has shocked his fan base by joining a corporate conglomerate that gained notoriety for allegedly bribing political parties for tender contracts. This company is regularly blacklisted for short periods of time due to poor business execution, but walks away with even bigger projects. Long ago, despite glaring irregularities, the CBI team led by Lakshminarayana gave a clean chit to everyone in the YSR government involved in a scam orchestrated by the Indian representative of automobile giant Volkswagen. YSR was alive then. Post his death, Lakshminarayana came into limelight following the then Congress-led Central government’s decision to take revenge for YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s open challenge. The cop, popular as ‘JD’ Lakshminarayana, quit his job to “clean up the system” and continued to preach to students about honesty and integrity in college duties. He later tried his luck in electoral politics, formed a party and then joined Jana Sena but nothing worked. Bad luck followed his family as his wife lost Rs 2.58 million to an online fraudster. And now the ‘crusader’ in the conglomerate would be sharing office space with bureaucrats playing an invisible role in the scams of the YSR regime!

30 years later… Project history

Milestones don’t happen very often, but one milestone that happens regularly is a birthday. Apparently not just for people celebrating that special day for people or their pets, but also for projects like the one at Veligonda in Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh. Celebrating the occasion, irrigation minister Nimmala Ramanaidu announced the other day that the foundation stone was laid in 1996 when N. Chandrababu Naidu became the Prime Minister in united AP and 30 years have passed since then. The only hitch? The project is yet to be completed and as irrigation minister he promised to complete the project by Chandrababu’s next birthday. Stating the seriousness of his approach, Ramanaidu said he checks the progress frequently. Meanwhile, former CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy dedicated the same project to the country four times. This is a turning point in itself.

You have a two-storey house but you want a card…

What do most people want? Or at least what is most sought after by many? Dagumati Krishna Reddy, Kavali MLA from Telugu Desam, learned the answer to this question during the ‘Intintiki MLA’ programme. While wandering around a particular area, he seemed to come across a desired state of poverty. He stopped in front of a newly painted two-storey house with flashy balconies and asked a woman there if the building belonged to him. The answer was that indeed it was. Then came the next question: “What do you need?” And the answer: “White report card, sir.” This speech may have been found amusing by some in the MLA’s circle, but the message was serious. Everyone who has the means will wish to benefit from the social assistance program. Krishna Reddy said a polite ‘Namaskaram talli’ and left to find out what his voters wanted.

Jana Sena’s man is slipping on oil

When the past clashes with the present, it can put a person in a pretty sharp place. Jana Sena MLA Arani Srinivasulu from Tirupati found himself in such a situation recently when he claimed that there was no adulteration in Tirumala laddu ghee. This claim was short-lived, extremely so; Srinivasulu quickly corrected himself and stated that adulteration had indeed occurred. A brief slip of the tongue was enough for the YSRC to go to town with the first part of Srinivasulu’s comment about non-adulteration – backed up by a claim from the ruling coalition MLA that it was genuine. Apparently the problem was something else. Srinivasulu was in YSRC before joining Jana Sena during the elections and winning his seat. Here apparently lay his problem, as his political integration into the new party was not yet complete and he had not yet come to terms with his past political past. A hint at how muscle memory can sometimes lead a politician onto a slippery slope.

When a communist goes to a bar

Are there really different strokes for different people? Senior CPI leader K. Narayana may have his own take on this. Narayana, who is sometimes known for his controversial comments, as in actor Nagarjuna and a ‘reality’ TV show endorsed by the actor, has once again upped the ante with his own definition of ‘Viksit Bharat’. While in Kakinada, Narayana decided to check out the arrival of ‘pub culture’ in the town himself. Wearing a white lungi and a white shirt, he went to a bar, checked with the owners how the liquor was flowing there, came out and declared ‘this is the Viksit Bharat that Modi and Chandrababu promised you’ and how pub culture has spread from Hyderabad to Kakinada. He made it clear that bars and restaurants were good but pub culture was a no-no for him and his party. Incidentally, the irrigation canal controlled by Narayana was recently inaugurated by Ganti Harish Mathur, Amalapuram Lok Sabha member from Telugu Desam.

Vizag’s Metro Rail works face red signals

There is a certain progression for major projects to be officially announced and for things to reach a stage where they can get going. Soon after it was announced that the Center had given the green signal to the Visakhapatnam Metro Rail project, an office was quickly set up in Vizag and some junior officers were assigned the duty of posting there. The signal may have been given, but it seems there is no one to monitor the progress as the deputy general manager of the project left his post two months ago and has remained vacant since then. The traces of the project are of course still quite distant and meanwhile the office itself was diverted from one place to another from the GVMC administration building to the LIC Building where the rents were high and hence again to the VMRDA building and that is where the story remains for now.

What a good alliance luck made with Revanth

When luck smiles… It does so in a way that leaves no one in doubt. Take the case of Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, who has extraordinary political luck as his victory in the municipal elections added another chapter to his electoral journey. Continuing its streak of success since assuming office in December 2023, the Congress has further tightened its grip in Telangana by capturing more than 80 per cent of municipalities. The real controversy arose in two municipalities where Congress and BRS completed the same vote counts. With no clear winner, election officials resorted to drawing lots, a rarely used method. In a result that surprised even seasoned observers, the odds favored the Congress in both draws. The events sparked heated debate in political circles; many noted that the Prime Minister was in the heyday of his political stars. Recalling the Telugu proverb “Adrustavanthudini evaru chedagottaleru, duradrustavanthudini evaru baagu cheyaluru”, observers suggested that the rivals may have to wait for fate to change course.

Congress, BJP and BRS in for an unforgettable event on V-Day

As the old saying goes, all is fair in love and war, and that principle extends to politics, especially come Valentine’s Day. This year the situation was no different; political parties and leaders were pitting each other playfully but quite seriously, especially given the heat generated in municipal elections. The BJP, BRS and the Congress, which are arch-rivals in many respects, have embarked on the business of exposing each other’s ‘affairs’ through posts on social media in Telangana. Each pursued the other two; While he hinted at a triad between the BJP, BRS, Congress and AIMIM, the BRS also returned the compliment that there is an unbreakable ‘Fevicol bond’ between the BJP and the Congress. Not wanting to be left behind, the Congress went to town on the romance between BRS and BJP. While metaphorical flowers were flying around on social media, the ground reality of these parties coming together in various combinations in various municipalities showed that Valentine’s Day celebrations could contain a message.

Contributions by N. Vamsi Srinivas, Vadrevu Srinivas, Avinash P. Subramanyam, Pathri Rajasekhar, KMP Patnaik, Balu Pulipaka, L. Venkat Ram Reddy