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The recent election scenario was a dramatic tale of twists and turns for the Telugu Desam party and just when people were thinking that it might well be losing its existence with key members walking away and joining the Praja Rajyam Party and Congress, they managed to bounce back and were also successful in forming a Grand Alliance (which didn’t work). Now, one episode has been the highlight of the election and that has been the presence of cine stalwarts and their campaigning. While on one end, there was megastar Chiranjeevi who jumped into active politics with his Praja Rajyam Party, the TDP roped in the Nandamuri big gun Balakrishna. After a lot of drama, even young tiger junior NTR joined the fray and that for a moment had spiked up the graphs of popularity for the TDP. Young tiger junior NTR has often been known for his high voltage emotional dialogues on the screen and they have enough ammunition to get the crowds to the theatres.
So he seems to have used something similar during the election canvassing when thousands gathered to have a look at him while he was rolling out his dialogues in full flow. The media projected him like a true successor to the legendary N T Rama Rao and in no time, junior became a demigod, thanks to the exaggeration from the news channels. Live coverages were provided to every speech of Junior NTR and experts started putting in high numbers for the Telugu Desam due to this. However, in no time, all those castles came down crashing to the ground once the election results were seen. The places where junior gave his speeches scored the least results for the Mahakootami and in no time, the same channels that termed him as the oxygen for TDP took the breath out of him and gave a realistic feel that reel life and real life are two different things. Even the likes of Balayya and Chiru failed to impress the crowds and it remains to be seen if folks like junior NTR, Balakrishna, Chiranjeevi have learnt their lessons from this or not.
Way back in the year 1983, the legendary N T Rama Rao created a landslide with his ‘Teluguvaadi Atma Gauravam’ concept but then it must be said that it was not only his charisma but also the resentment among the people over the languishing Congress government at that point of time. So if people like Chiru or Chandrababu expected that film glamour will fill their vote banks, then they have seen the outcome of it clearly now.
The Telangana Rashtra Samithi leaders, who received severe drubbing in the recent electios, are desperate to exploit the Telangana sentiment on silly pretexts.
Take for instance the statement of TRS legislator T Harish Rao. He says great injustice was meted out to the Telangana leaders in the cabinet expansion and allotment of portfolios. He forgot the point that as many as 15 ministers in the Cabinet are from Telangana and five out of six women ministers are from this region.
When it was pointed out to him, Harish Rao says it is grossly insufficient. He does not agree with the fact that the key portfolio of Home was given to a Telangana minister Sabita Indra Reddy. “What is home portfolio? The home minister is like a snake without fangs. The real power is with the Chief Minister,” he said. What about the portfolios of Medical and Health, Minor Industries, Information and Tourism etc. Are they not key portfolios?
Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy has rewarded his “chellemma” Sabita Indra Reddy with Home portfolio, as she turned out to be his lucky mascot.
In a way, Sabita should consider herself very lucky, as Home minister is considered to be No. 2 in the cabinet. And she gained the credit of being the first woman home minister, which is no easy task.
Sabita, who earlier held the portfolio of mines and geology, helped YSR in several ways. Without taking aarthi from her, YSR does not take up any programme. Earlier, he launched all his programmes, including election campaigns and government programmes, only from Chevella. Even in the recent elections, he launched his election campaign from this place and that proved his “Chevella Chellemma” sentiment right: he became the first Congress chief minister in three decades to retain power.
No wonder, YSR gave her such a pleasant surprise!
While it may be that few of them have been disappointed over the defeat of megastar Chiranjeevi and his party during the elections, there is one community that had a blast over the result. They are the Kamma community and here is an incident that came to light recently.
It heard that as soon as the election results were announced, on May 18th one of the Kamma film celebrity organized for a grand private party and this happened with a theme of ‘Camp Fire’ and ‘Barbeque Chicken’. The whole clan was said to be rejoicing till the early hours of next morning on Chiru’s defeat.
Sources say that the party also saw some of the big Kamma heads taking part apart from the film crowds and so there was a major reunion happening out there. Those who heard this news also added that similar celebrations happened across few other anti-Chiru camps as well.
He is known as the media baron for all the Telugu people and he is also rated as one of the finest visionaries the country has ever seen. On the internal front, he is also seen as the king maker in Andhra Pradesh but right now, all this has not been going his way at all.
We are talking about the one and only Ramoji Rao and it must be said that the year 2008-09 has been a very bitter one. Ramoji has seen three big losses and that too back to back which has really dampened his spirits.
First in the list is the Margadarsi controversy with Rajahmundry MP Undavalli Arun Kumar becoming a nightmare for Ramoji. Then it was the issue for Ramoji with his son Suman and the relation was almost over before they patched up. Last but not the least, it is the loss of his most favorite party the Telugu Desam Party which has hit the nail on the head. Wonder what the future has in store for him.
When it comes to ETV Suman and his ventures, the publicity is maximum irrespective of the quality of his works. Now, he is all set to arrive with his new movie ‘Usha Parinayam’ and recently, the audio album release also took place. Now, a new offer is said to have been given here.
It is heard that there is a Scratch card with each CD and this will have a number, every day there will be a lucky draw and the winners can get upto Rs 10000 cash prize. So if you get lucky, you could buy the CD for Rs 25 but win a cash prize of Rs 10000.
As expected, this is a publicity exercise by Suman and the film is slated to hit the screens this week. While the response to the audio has been quite mixed, it is expected that this daily draw scheme will help bring in some extra mileage to the film. Let us see how this goes.
Hyderabad: Yuvarajyam president Pavan Kalyan is back to business nursing his star image as an actor after being neglected by the party which deliberated on the post-poll scenario during the last week.
The actor has been trying to catch up with his shooting schedules which got neglected due to his extensive campaigning to attract fresh voters across the state. The actor is busy with his next big-budget film “Puli”, directed by S J Surya.
According to some of the party leaders, the absence of the PRP youth wing chief, who was seen as the only firebrand leader in the party, at the meetings was proving to be a dampener.
Though several special invitees were called to the extended three-day political affairs committee meeting last week, the absence of the Yuvarajyam chief at the party’s re-structuring meet left tongues wagging.
“Pavan Kalyan is the only PRP leader who dared to show his fingers at corrupt Congress leaders and take an open stand against the ruling party. Since he has been staying aloof from party activities after the second phase of polling, several youth who plunged into active politics were looking for the Yuvarajyam leader for further directions,” said a senior PRP leader who did not want to be identified.
The last meeting, though unofficial, was chaired by the Yuvarajyam chief to discuss arrangements for the the Praja Vijayabheri two months ago.
Hyderabad: Four ministers, all Reddys, were dropped for their poor track record. J C Diwakar Reddy, who was the panchayat raj minister in the previous regime, was dropped because he indulged in factional violence in his native Anantapur district bringing the Congress into disrepute, sources said.
In fact, there were several reasons for ignoring Diwakar Reddy. Apart from the faction politics, Diwakar Reddy had kicked up a row by entering into a war of words with fellow minister G Surya Rao after the latter alleged that Diwakar Reddy as in-charge minister of East Godavari district had taken bribe from sand mining contractors.
Besides, Diwakar had also encouraged his brother J C Prabhakar Reddy when the latter abused RTA officials for seizing the buses owned by the family for violating the law.
By evening when they came to know about his non-inclusion in the Cabinet, angry followers of Diwakar Reddy attacked the office of a Telugu daily in Ananatpur district. Rajasekhar, Tadipatry reporter of the daily suffered 35 per cent burn injuries when the mob tried to set fire to the daily’s office. He was rushed to Anantpur government hospital, where his condition is said to be serious. However, Diwakar Reddy denied involvement of his supporters in the incident and said it was an attempt by opponents to malign him.
In the case of K Jana Reddy, who had served as home minister in the previous cabinet, his not getting Congress candidates elected from his native Nalgonda district is said to be the main reason for his not finding a berth in the new Cabinet. Also, his proximity to Union minister S Jaipal Reddy, his utterances on Telangana and complaints that a member of his family was involved in a licence renewal racket involving clubs also contributed to his downfall.
As far as the other two ministers are concerned, non-performance is said to be the main reason for their exclusion this time.
Kasu Venkata Krishna Reddy, who was the civil supplies minister, was dropped as he failed to take action against rice millers who resorted to hoarding leading to scarcity of rice and an abnormal increase in its price in the open market. Similarly, R Damodar Reddy was dropped because of non-performance as IT minister in the previous Cabinet. At a time when the IT sector was going through a crisis, Damodar Reddy failed to take any steps, which is said to have upset the chief minister. However, his brother R Venkata Reddy has been accommodated in the Cabinet.
Ministerial berths for two Congress legislators from the city is said to have come with a tag, that they should ensure the victory of the ruling party in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections scheduled to be held shortly. Khairatabad MLA D Nagender and Goshamahal legislator Mukesh Goud have made it to the state cabinet. The grapevine has it that they were specifically told by chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy that along with the ministerial responsibilities, they should work for the victory of the party in the civic polls. They are in for a bonanza in case the Congress does well in the polls, but what if it does not?
The elections are over and the Congress party has comfortably won over the TDP and PRP. While the losing sides have been doing an extensive introspection on where they have gone wrong and the causes for defeat, the Congress has been very silent and passive on that one.
Many have been trying to find out the reason for this and few Congress sources reveal that they are in no way willing to let sympathy wave go for those parties. For now, the Congress is said to be focusing on winding up the existence of one or two parties since they foresee a threat with their existence.
They have five years from now to come up with a plan to achieve their mission but for now they are said to be following a rather strategic mode. Given the surprise that they sprang up with, it will be better for both TDP and PRP to watch out before they get swept away.
Mr J.C. Diwakar Reddy, who was dropped from the Cabinet on Monday, was accused of helping Opposition candidates in six seats of the district: Uravakonda, Penukonda, Hindupur, Putaparthy, Raptadu and Kalyandurg. Only Mr N. Raghuveera Reddy emerged successful from Kalyandurg, the Telugu Desam took the rest.
Mr Jana Reddy was also charged with alleged sabotage. Sources said he used his clout to get a weak candidate put up at Miryalguda seat, which allowed the CPI(M) to record its only victory in the state.
The Chief Minister viewed this seriously as he was keen to defeat all CPI(M) candidates. However, Mr Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy, a five-time MLA from Chittoor district, was inducted into the cabinet, though he allegedly helped Opposition candidates win from four Assembly seats in the district.
Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy, Kadapa MP and son of the Chief Minister, is said to have played a key role in roping in Mr Ramachandra Reddy. The Chief Minister dropped Mr Kasu Venkata Krishna Reddy, a longtime friend, as he wanted to accommodate Mr Gade Venkat Reddy from Guntur district.
Mr R. Damodar Reddy lost his berth to his elder brother, Mr Venkat Reddy, a four time legislator from the neighbouring Khammam district.
The Governor, Mr N.D. Tiwari, administered the oath of office and secrecy to the ministers. The ceremony started at 6.40 pm with Mr Anam Ramanaryana Reddy being the first to take oath, and ended by 7.45 pm. All districts except Adilabad got representation in the ministry.
While, Guntur district got four berths, Medak was given three. Seven districts will have more than one minister.
Most of the ministers took oath in the name of God while Mr Raghuveera Reddy and Pitani Satyanarayna also took oath in the name of their parents.
Mr Botsa Satyanarayana and Mr Balineni Srinivasula Reddy could not make it to the ceremony in time, so, the Governor administered the oath for them after completing the list.
It is really good news for the newly-inducted ministers of the Y S Rajasekhara Reddy cabinet.
All the new ministers would get brand new Innova cars, apart from all the luxuries at the ministers’ quarters. Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy made this announcement at the informal cabinet meeting, immediately after the swearing in ceremony. It is a different matter that some of the ministers already have more luxurious cars.
However, YSR also took a serious class to the new ministers. He asked them to be careful about their functioning, especially in the selection of personal secretaries and personal assistants, who can bring bad name to the peshis.
The Sakshi News Paper office was burnt down in Tadipatri today followed by the news that JC Diwakar Reddy hasn’t offered the minister portfolio in cabinet today. Many assume that JC’s yesmen could do this deed. But inside sources also suspect that the yesmen of opponent Peram Nagireddy of TDP might have done this to defame JC. It is known that there was toughest battle in Tadipatri between JC and Peram during the polling day. It is said that it is a vengeance formula taken by Peram and Co to trap JC and glue him with the curse of YSR. We have to see what step YSR would take on this issue. How he reacts and moves ahead has to be seen. Will he shown his wrath on JC or smells the opponent’s conspiracy if any? That has to be witnessed.
Former panchayat raj minister J C Diwakar Reddy, who failed to make it to the state cabinet, is obviously a disappointed man.
The disappointment turned into anger, when he did not get an appointment with Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy at the camp office. He waited there for more than an hour, but was told YSR was busy. He left the place in a huff.
“Let me find out the reasons why I was left out. But that does not affect my relationship with the Chief Minister,” he said. Interestingly, it was only a couple of days ago that K Rosaiah suggestively asked JC whether he did not want to get into cabinet.
Reacting on the reports that JC was interested in becoming pro-tem Speaker, Rosaiah made this enquiry. JC said it was all media creation and he wants to become minister and not speaker.
It has been a long-cherished dream of Khairatabad MLA Danam Nagender to become a minister in the Cabinet of his favourite leader Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy.
And his dream has come true on Monday, when he took oath as the minister. He has been a staunch loyalist of YSR and the latter had promised to make him the minister long ago. In 1999, Nagender was hoping that YSR would come to power; but it did not happen. In 2004, Nagender did not get the assembly ticket, thanks to PCC president D Srinivas; and he had to jump to the TDP to win the election. But with YSR becoming the Chief Minister, he resigned from the seat and contested again, but lost the polls to the MIM.
The ultimate chance has come now. He has won the Khairatabad seat and YSR became the CM again. And he grabbed the opportunity without wasting time!
After waiting for two days in the national capital, Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy finally got Madam Sonia Gandhi’s approval for the list of ministers in his cabinet and returned to Hyderabad.
According to the list, there will be 35 ministers in the YSR cabinet, which includes 20 new faces. They are: Pasupuleti Balaraju (Vizag), P Vishawarup (East Godavari), P Satyanarayana and Vatti Vasanth Kumar (West Godavari), Parthasarathy (Krishna), Gade Venkat Reddy, D Manikya Vara Prasad (Guntur), B Srinivasa Reddy (Prakasam), R Venkat Reddy (Khammam), Sunitha Lakshma Reddy (Medak), Sudershan Reddy (Nizamabad), P Ramachandra Reddy (Chittoor), Shila Mohan Reddy (Kurnool), Ahmedulla (Kadapa), D K Aruna, J Krishna Rao (Mahbubnagar), Danam Nagender (Hyderabad), Konda Surekha (Warangal), D Sridhar Babu (Karimnagar) and K Venkat Reddy (Nalgonda).
Of them, only Gade Venkat Reddy held the ministry in the erstwhile Congress regimes and all the others are fresh faces. So, it is a good opportunity to the new comers to prove themselves!
Whenever there is a political party that is formed, it has always been labeled with one mark that can actually turn against its favor in crucial times. So when it comes to the political scenario in Andhra Pradesh, the two major parties that we are talking about is the Congress party and the Telugu Desam Party. Each of them have got their own dark marks and while the Congress has been known for its exorbitant and deep rooted levels of corruption, the TDP is being labeled as a rather caste oriented party or a ‘Kamma’ favoring party.
While the debate has been on for a long time, even this time it is being said that though the Congress has got embroiled in tales of controversies and corruption related issues, they were able to retain power since they came up with some good initiatives. On the other hand, the TDP folks say that there is nothing special about it and they have lost out by just one percent of votes and these belonged to their own community folks. Some of the senior members of the TDP have stated that they were banking on their Kamma vote banks but due to the presence of parties like Lok Satta headed by JP who is also a Kamma, their votes got split and went into a negative account.
They also said that due to the seat sharing basis, some of the noted Kamma contenders were not given a chance and this led to an anti-feeling among the Kamma community heads that resulted in the loss to the party. While this has been their version, the experts say that more than the ‘Kamma’ factor, it is the inability of the Mahakootami to actually drive across their political agendas clearly to the voters and at the same time convince them about their coalition. With an unpredictable KCR around, it was a bit difficult for the voters to see a Mahakootami government standing for long. Despite all these practical hiccups, it is sad to see the Telugu Desam folks still clinging on to the ‘Kamma’ slogan.
It is about time they realize that caste and community feeling does not really work anymore. Perhaps, the example of Chiranjeevi serves as the best one in this context for the TDP folks. At the same time, Congress also must ensure that they wipe away the mark of ‘Corruption’ from their list and if they manage to come out of that, then it is without doubt that they can emerge as a long standing reliable party for the Telugu people.
It is often said that chief minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy is one man who does not forget those who help him and he does not hesitate to go out of his way to return favors. Right now, something like that is said to be happening between him and Yuvasamrat Nagarjuna Akkineni.
It is known news that during the canvassing time, Nag created a sensation by appearing for ads and speaking about the government projects. Now, it is payback time for YS as per sources. It is heard from them that a gift for Nag is being prepared from YSR and that is giving a seat in Rajya Sabha for his father Akkineni Nageswara Rao.
However, it is yet to be known if ANR will take this offer or not. It has been quite a while since the legendary icon has been seen at cultural events or other film functions. It will not be long before we will know the outcome on this one.
In fact, Nag’s other big deals with Congress government will continue as promised by the latter earlier, say sources.
It is a great victory for Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy who fought against all odds -- there were no star campaigners for the party, a united opposition, a sort of non-cooperation from within the party and entry of a new political party, Praja Rajyam, which has a backing of a strong community in coastal Andhra,
The Congress has 157 seats in the 294-member assembly, while the Telugu Desam-led Mahakutami could win only 106 seats, including 91 for TDP, 10 for TRS, four for CPI and one for CPI-M. The PRP remained a poor third with 18 seats. Others could get 13 seats, including two BJP, one Lok Satta, seven MIM and three independents.
The election results have surprised the poll-pundits, who were predicting that there would be a hung assembly in the state this time and that the seats of PRP would be crucial in deciding the fate of the new government.
There are many reasons for the victory of the Congress in the assembly elections. The main reason is that it was completely a positive vote for the Congress government. In the last five years, the YSR government had fulfilled all its promises on implementing welfare and development programmes. The schemes implemented by the Congress government fetched YSR the victory. Thus, there was no anti-incumbency factor this time. The anti-government vote, if any, was split between the TDP and the PRP. Secondly, the alliance with the TRS proved to be a nemesis for the TDP. The TRS has not only fared poorly even in the Telangana strongholds, but also spoiled the chances of the TDP. This was evident from the way the Congress won more than 40 seats in Telangana region. There was no transfer of votes even among the TDP and the Communist parties in many areas.
And the PRP also spoiled the TDP chances. Chiranjeevi's social justice slogan failed to impress the people and he heavily banked on caste polarisation, especially the Kapu factor in the coastal Andhra, hoping to eat into the Congress vote bank. But, it could only eat into the TDP votes, damaging the latter's prospects. Chiranjeevi himself lost his Palacole assembly segment in his native West Godavari district, though he won the Tirupati seat with a meagre margin of around 10,000 votes. Analysts say the TDP would have benefitted much, had there been no PRP in the fray; or there should have been an alliance between the Congress and the TDP.
Finally, the TDP's much-hyped cash transfer scheme and supply of free colour televisions to the poor also have failed to make any impact on the electorate.
YS Jagan has won with triumphant majority from Cuddapah. With happiness filled eyes he said in front of media camera, “Andhra Jyothy and Eenadu should open their eyes at least now. Nothing can dominate ‘praja balam’. Those two news dailies have written many wrong things about me. And now people have showered victory on me. I’m indebted to people of Cuddapah. I serve them for my life time. I don’t take even the center gives me any ministry. I stay only in the state and particularly in Cuddapah”.
Well he uttered the names of Andhra Jyothy and Eenadu as soon as he won the election. Is that an indirect ‘khabaddar’ warning for those two news dailies? We have to wait and see what his game plan will be in coming years.
Irrigation Minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah has won from Janagam with just 44 votes. An EVM didn’t respond for a few hours and that has heated up the tension for quite long time. At last the votes in that last EVM were counted and Ponnala won with just 44 vote margin at last with huge tension.
Is Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu conceding defeat of his party well in advance?
One would get this doubt after listening to his talk at the party office after the announcement of exit polls by various channels. He told the party workers not to get disheartened by the exit poll results, but he asked them to be prepared for any result. “Whatever may be my position or post after the elections, I continue to remain with the party workers and work for the interest of the people,” he said.
He also admitted that though there were reports that male voters preferred the Congress, women voters preferred the TDP to the Congress. What is more, he blamed it on the grassroot level party workers for failing to take the high-level corruption of the Congress into the people effectively. What does all this show? Naidu’s lack of confidence on the party’s victory. Better, be prepared for the worst. At least, you will get better results.
Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) is putting up a strange argument before the people. Its president Chiranjeevi says there would be no third front after the elections, as the parties have ideological differences, which was evident from the way the Telangana Rashtra Samithi deserted it and joined the NDA camp.
So, Chiranjeevi says there is no scope for the Third Front; but there are bright chances for the Fourth Front to come to power at the Centre. His party leaders like Jalli Siddaiah even asked Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu to join the fourth front, since there is no possibility of formation of a third front.
One wonders how there can be a fourth front, without third front. A media correspondent said if there is no third front after polls, then the fourth front itself will become the third front. So, why call it a fourth front? Well, the PRP leaders had no answer!
Vijayawada Congress MP and maverick leader Lagadapati Rajagopal has once again displayed his out and out anti-Telangana feeling.
One does not know who had asked him, Lagadapati conducted his own exit polls by engaging two agencies. There is no mention of how and when the survey was done, but he released the results of exit polls, much to the astonishment of the Congress leaders themselves.
According to his survey, most of the Telangana ministers would not win their seats. They include Ponnala Lakshmaiah, J Geetha Reddy, Sabita Indra Reddy, Vinod, Shabbir Ali, Ratnakar Rao, Jeevan Reddy, D Raj Narasimha, Chinna Reddy, Mukesh Goud and Vanama Venkateshwara Rao, Even Speaker Suresh Reddy’s name does not figure in the list of winning candidates. There are a few other ministers from other regions like R Chenga Reddy, Konathala Ramakrishna, Mandali Buddha Prasad and Pinnamaneni Venkateshwara Rao, but they are known to be opponents of Rajagopal.
So, whoever Rajagopal doesn’t like, they all will lose the elections. But what about Rajagopal himself? There are reports that he is going to be defeated this time. What do you say about it?
Open Invitation to NRIs supporters, friends, well wishers of Political Parties (PRP, CONGRESS, TDP, TRS, BJP etc).
With recent activities conducted by NRIs groups and had played an active role in Andhra Pradesh Elections and Looking on the news about Top US Officials are curious in meeting the Local Political Leaders in Andhra Pradesh, now its time for NRIs for Election Results Hungama in USA. The idea is to assemble at one venue and view the election results updates and to see analyze which party will form the government in Andhra Pradesh and whom did people of Andhra Pradesh Elect.
This is a general invitation to NRIs supporters, friends, well wishers of Political Parties (PRP, CONGRESS, TDP, TRS, BJP etc) to view the election results on Friday May 15th Night at 8:30 PM PST. Speaking on this event Organizers Chandru Seelam, Srinivasa Manapragada, Srikanth Palivela, Ram Thota, Sekhar Ganji told arrangements are going in full pace to view the election results live on TV9 and will be offering a premier viewer ship with live streaming without interruption at Hyderabad Biriyani House, Fremont Hub, Fremont, CA. Food and Drinks will be available. Announcing, Srinivasa Manapragada told , we are also planning to contact the local teams to hold similar events in Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington DC, Atlanta, New Jersey, New York, Detroit, Dallas, UK, Ireland, Germany, Muscat, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand watch out for Venues.
Venue for Bay Area Location Hyderabad Biriyani House (Time: 8:30 PM) 39134, Fremont Blvd, Fremont, CA 94538, Next to Office Max, Phone: 510 793 3353. All are Welcome.
We are also offering very special price dinner to all attendees. Apetizer+Biryani+Drink =$10
Praja Rajyam Party general secretary Allu Aravind today said that leaders of rival parties were in touch with them amidst speculation that Assembly elections might throw a split verdict in Andhra Pradesh.
"There is nothing wrong in parties holding consultations with others. Everyone is in need of everyone," Aravind told newsmen here.
He, however, denied reports that BJP leader L K Advani had a telephonic conversation with PRP chief Chiranjeevi. The last time they both talked was on August 29, he said.
Arvind also denied BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu or his other party leaders spoke to Chiranjeevi today.
"The PRP is going to form the next government,"he claimed adding they would bag 160 assembly seats.
Claiming at PRP would win 15 Lok Sabha seats, Arvind said. "our support to any party or group at the Centre will be in tune with the interests of the state."
He said there had been split in Third Front and the group that was now being referred to as the Fourth Front could well become the Third Front.
Asked if the party would keep its newly-elected MLAs in a camp to prevent possible poaching in the backdrop of a meeting of its legislators on May 16 here, Arvind said there was no such need as no candidate elected on PRP ticket would switch sides
Media baron Ramoji Rao seems to be back in action. According to highly placed sources, Ramoji Rao is brokering the deal between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Telugu Desam for an alliance.
Sources said Ramoji Rao is taking initiative in arranging a meeting between BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu and TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu at Ramoji Film City secretly. This might happen tonight or tomorrow.
Ramoji, a good friend of BJP prime ministerial candidate L K Advani, played a key role in the TDP joining the NDA in 1998. This time, too, he is doing the same. After all, he is desperate to see that the Congress does not come to power in the state and the UPA at the Centre. Otherwise, his empire is facing the threat of collapse.
Telangana Rashtra Samithi president K Chandrasekhara Rao seem to have become highhanded in his behaviour, eversince the BJP leaders started giving him a lot of importance and projecting a larger than life size image of himself.
Reacting to the media criticism on his decision to join the NDA, the TRS president arrogantly said there was no need to give any explanation to the media. “I have done what I feel is right. In 2004, we supported the Congress and this time, we believe that the NDA will grant Telangana. That’s it. What is wrong in it?” he asked. He prophesied that the NDA would get not less than 225 Lok Sabha seats this time and would form the government. “Political equations are fast changing at the national level. The so-called Third Front has no shape at all so far. It is certain that the NDA would form the government at the centre,” he said.
Even as Telugu Desam leader is expressing confidence that the Third Front would form the next government at the Centre, Finance and Legislative Affairs Minister K Rosaiah advises Naidu to join the NDA to safeguard his political future.
“There is no point in talking about the Third Front or Fourth Front. Instead of making such futile attempts, it is better Naidu join the NDA. At least then, he can secure his political future,” he said. Good advice, Mr Rosaiah. But Naidu has his own plans. He plays his cards close to his chest and doesn’t disclose his plans so easily.
Yet, Naidu will definitely keep Rosaiah suggestion in mind.
Has Bharatiya Janata Party national leader M Venkaiah Naidu been designated as chief negotiator of the party to woo Telugu Desam party into the NDA fold?
There was a talk in the morning that Venkaiah came to Hyderabad on Tuesday only to meet Chandrababu Naidu and discuss the issue of the TDP joining the NDA. But the meeting did not take place till evening.
When media persons asked him the same, Venkaiah did not either confirm or deny the same. “I don’t want to name any party or person at this stage. But many parties are willing to join the NDA. However, any negotiations with any party would be done only after the declaration of election results on May 16,” he said.
To a question, he said the BJP would negotiate with any party, which would accept L K Advani as the Prime Minister and support the NDA government led by him.
There is a wide discussion going on in the political circles as to whether Telangana Rashtra Samithi president K Chandrasekhara Rao’s decision to support the National Democratic Alliance will help the Telangana cause or not.
According to one argument, KCR’s strategy will work, only if the NDA comes to power at the Centre. And it will help KCR realise his goal of achieving separate Telangana.
But what happens if the NDA does not come to power? Then TRS would end up nowhere. It cannot come back to the Third Front, because the Left parties would kick it out. If KCR wants to go back to the Congress-led UPA, too, there would not be any takers. Moroever, KCR will have to do so at the cost of Telangana, since the UPA will anyway not give the Telangana state. So, it has to remain an untouchable.
People are arguing that KCR should have he should have waited till the election results before choosing the NDA or Third Front.
