Congree will Win : Survery Says

The ruling Congress would emerge the clear winner in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly polls, according to the latest opinion poll conducted by the CNN-IBN group.

A statement put out by the group said that 45 per cent of the respondents voted in favour of the Congress leaving the TD with 30 per cent of the votes, the BJP with nine per cent, and the Left parties with two per cent.

Chiranjeevi’s Praja Rajyam could gain only seven per cent of the votes though it had wide support among youngsters, minorities and the Madiga community. Around 73 per cent of the respondents expressed satisfaction at the performance of the state government and also endorsed the Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy’s policies.

Interestingly, 57 per cent of the respondents felt that the YSR government was better than the previous TD regime. Pertinently, the survey said that 52 per cent of the respondents across the state were against a separate Telangana and only 27 per cent were in favour of it.

However, in Telangana, 63 per cent are in favour of a separate state and only 24 per cent were against it. The opinion poll was conducted by Centre for the Study of Developing Societies through a systematic random sampling from all socio-economic groups.

Renuka legal worries!!

Daredevil Union Minister Renuka Chowdary has run herself into a legal trouble with her outburst against Sri Ram Sena for attacking girls in a pub at Mangalore in Karnataka recently.

Mangalore mayor filed a criminal case against Renuka for accusing saffron brigade of trying to "Talibanise" India. The Mayor alleged that Renuka's comment amounts to instigating communal violence and degrading Indian culture. Since she refused to apologise, he filed a criminal case against her.

Renuka, however, is not relenting. She defended her comment, saying the way saffron brigade tried to impose its ideology on the people and particularly by attacking women in the name of cultural cleansing, was no way different from the activities of Talibans in Afghanistan. She is prepared to go even to jail for standing by her words

PRP+NTP make woo to BJP: A small story

One is desperate to prevent his political oblivion, and the other jittery over his political debut. In concerted moves by a veteran politician and a novice, a behindthe-scenes attempt is on to bring about an unlikely alliance of the Prajarajyam and the Nava Telangana Party with the Bharatiya Janata Party in the state.

While officially the three parties are denying any such move, sources in the PRP and NTP said Chiranjeevi has deputed T Devender Goud to woo the BJP into striking a poll alliance or at least a seat adjustment. “To take on thetwo major forces in the state — the ruling Congress and the TDP-TRS-Left combine — Chiranjeevi has directed Devender Goud to explore some sort of arrangement with the BJP,” sources told the media.

It was Devender Goud who had negotiated with the BJP on behalf of TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu after the general elections in 1998 to forge an alliance, which lasted for five years. “Goud who is finding himself politically marginalised after quitting the TDP and forming his own party, which failed to take off, is the mediator,” the sources said.

According to the sources, Goud held talks with Chiranjeevi and Naga Babu on the issue on Monday after which the NTP leader confabulated with BJP floor leader G Kishan Reddy the same day. “Devender Goud will lead a delegation to New Delhi to meet BJP’s prime ministerial candidate L K Advani and party president Rajnath Singh on Thursday,” the sources said.

Goud told at a press conference on Tuesday that his delegation will offer the support of the PRP and NTP to the BJP on the private members’ bill to be moved in the Lok Sabha by the right-wing party on Telangana on February 20. “But the agenda also includes forging some kind of understanding for the elections,” sources said.

The state BJP, however, is publicly maintaining that there is no question of any understanding with the PRP-NTP combine and that it would go it alone. But indications are that it is not averse to exploring a few options to expand its base in Andhra Pradesh.

The PRP and NTP have already announced that they will have a tieup for the coming general and assembly elections.

They are angry with Naidu

Telugu Desam president N Chandrababu Naidu's remarks that the Collectors are acting like Congress agents has kicked up a row at the Collectors' conference being held at Hyderabad on Tuesday.

Several Collectors found fault with Naidu for making such a comment. They said government was a continuous process, irrespective of change in the ruling parties. "We don't have our own personal agenda. Our duty is only to implement the agenda given by the government of the day. Once the election code of conduct comes into force, we all come under the authority of Election Commission. We cannot side with any political party. How can Naidu attribute motives to us?" a Collector argued angrily.

Ministers Anam Ramnarayan Reddy and Botsa Satyanarayana lashed out at Naidu for trying to blackmail the officials.

Cong's KBK contest on mahakotami!!

With elections round the corner, political parties are coming out with innovative campaign in the electronic media.

The Telugu Desam's ad campaign using chicks and crows and interviews with honest officers, Congress party's counter campaign describing Naidu as a fox and Chiranjeevi's human interesting campaign calling for a change in the governance have all attracted the viewers.

Now, the latest campaign of the Congress is more interesting. It is based on the famous Kaun Banega Crorepati, whose theme was the basis for latest movie sensation Slumdog Millionaire. In this advertisement, the anchor asks questions to the participants on the irregularities in Chandrababu Naidu regime and rewards the winners with gifts.

YSR Power mantra again!!!

Perhaps, Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy is of the view that power sector will once again come to his rescue in the next elections.

Just as free-power supply-to-farmers scheme did the trick for YSR in 2004 elections, he declared on Tuesday that if the Congress comes to power, there would be no power tariff hike for another five years. "My first signature on the file after coming to power in 2004 is free power to farmers. This time, it will be on the file announcing no tariff hike policy for any sector for the next five years," YSR said, while releasing the banners of no power tariff hike at the Collectors' Conference.

The Congress leaders are hopeful that this would create a huge impact on the electorate in favour of the ruling party. The party is all set to launch a massive campaign on this scheme in the coming few days.