The year 2022 was one of intense political drama in Telangana, a torrent of raids by investigating agencies, a closely fought by-election, young startup founders doing us proud, impressive developments in IT, infra and heritage preservation and investors flocking to Hyderabad. Going by this hectic activity, 2023, an election year, promises to be a fast-paced one
BRS to help realise KCR’s ‘national’ dream?
The Telangana Rashtra Samithi became Bharat Rashtra Samithi to facilitate party chief K Chandrasekhar Rao’s entry into national politics.
At the TRS general body meeting on October 5, a resolution was passed changing the name of the party to Bharat Rashtra Samiti.
On November 9, KCR hoisted the party flag at the party office and gave the slogan “Ab ki baar Kisan Sarkar”.
On December 14, the Chief Minister inaugurated the party office in New Delhi along with former CMs, HD Kumaraswamy (Karnataka) and Akhilesh Yadav (UP).
The Telangana Assembly and Council released a bulletin on December 22 recognising the change of the party to BRS. The Parliament also issued similar orders.
Bandi yatra helps TS BJP make inroads
The year 2022 saw the BJP State unit make an aggressive push to dislodge the Congress as the alternative to the ruling BRS.
The first phase of BJP State president Bandi Sanjay’s Praja Sangrama Yatra, which began from the Bhagyalakshmi temple at Charminar on August 28, 2021, gathered steam throughout 2022 with the fifth phase concluding in Karimnagar on December 15.
BJP leaders claim that the padayatra has built enough pressure to activate the anti-incumbency factor.
The Karimnagar MP addressed 15 major and over 50 mini-public meetings during his padayatra which were attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national president JP Nadda.
The padayatra has so far covered 1,403 km and has seen many ups & downs. One was an attack, by alleged TRS workers, in Jangaon while Sanjay was addressing a street corner meeting.
KCR-Guv cold war
The cold war which began some two years ago between Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao continued in 2022 as well. There now appears to be a yawning gap between the Raj Bhavan and the Pragathi Bhavan.
However, in the last week of December, both the Governor and the Chief Minister interacted with each other during the first visit of President Droupadi Murmu’s visit to the city for her southern sojourn.
Year of rebellions & defections for Cong
During 2022, Congress suffered major setbacks in the form of rebellions and revolts against the State leadership and several defections. The grand old party also lost its security deposit in the Munugode byelection
Internal bickering, especially the seniors’ dislike for or lack of trust in TPCC chief A Revanth Reddy, showed the party in poor light
The year saw several senior leaders, including Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy, Marri Shashidhar Reddy and Dasoju Sravan defect to BJP
Appointments to various committees too leads to controversy and despite the high command’s attempts to sort out the differences, there seems to be no end to the dissidence in the party
One of the positive aspects that the party witnessed during the year was Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, which went off smoothly in Telangana
CBI examines Kavitha
CBI officials examined Chief Minister Kalvakuntla Chandrasekhar Rao’s daughter and MLC K Kavitha on December 11.
A six-member officer team visited MLC Kavitha at her Banjara Hills residence and recorded her statement under Section 161 of CrPC.
After the examination, the CBI issued notices under Section 91 of the CrPC to Kavitha to submit the documents related to her statement.
In the same case, the ED filed chargesheets in a Delhi court, in which Kavitha’s name figured.
TS withdraws consent to CBI
The Telangana government withdrew all its previous general consents to the CBI probe in the State through a GO issued on August 30 this year. The GO 51 was not placed in the public domain, stating that it is a ‘confidential’ GO. However, it came to light during the arguments in the High Court in October, that BJP requested the court to hand over the alleged poaching of four TRS MLAs cases to CBI.
Poachgate sends ripples across the nation
The case of an attempt to poach BRS MLAs created a sensation across the nation where the BJP allegedly tried to lure four pink party MLAs to the saffron party
On October 26, three persons named Ramachandra Bharati, Nandu Kumar and Simhayaji were caught by the Moinabad police in a farmhouse while they were discussing the deal for them to change their party to BJP.
The MLAs were Pilot Rohith Reddy, Guvval Balaraju, B Harshavardhan Reddy and Rega Kantha Rao.
The State government constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to inquire the case further.
The SIT issued notices under Section 41A of CrPC to BJP national organising secretary BL Santhosh and others who are allegedly involved in the case.
The SIT also inquired about an advocate named B Srinivas from Karimnagar who arranged flight tickets for Simhayaji and Ramchandra Bharati.
However, on December 26, the Telangana HC transferred the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation.
ED has its hands full in Telangana
This year, the ED investigated several important cases including those related to casino organiser Chikoti Praveen Kumar, the MLAs poaching case and granite quarries.
Agency officials conducted searches in Chikoti Praveen and Madhava Reddy’s residence along with other four places on July 27. They were interrogated for suspected money laundering in organising casino visits to Nepal, Bali (Indonesia), Sri Lanka and Goa.
The ED also interrogated MLC L Ramana, State minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav’s brothers, his personal assistant and his personal secretary.
The ED probed BRS leader Manchireddy Kishan Reddy for alleged FEMA violations.
Searches at the offices and residences of granite businessmen in Karimnagar including Civil Supplies Minister Gangula Kamalakar.
The ED served a notice under Section 50 of the PMLA to Pilot Rohith Reddy and examined him regarding his financial transactions and his family’s financial transactions.
I-T raids on real estate firms, Malla Reddy
The Income Tax (I-T) Department conducted many searches in 2022.
The agency conducted searches at the offices of Phoenix, Vasavi, Sumadhura and Vamsiram builders.
The I-T sleuths seized several proxy documents related to evasion and suspected transaction details including unaccounted money from the companies.
Allegedly several political leaders invested money in the companies and the I-T officials are also investigating the related suspicious links from outside the company.
I-T officials also conducted raids on Malla Reddy's institutions along with Labour Minister Ch Malla Reddy’s residence and those of his kin for four days.
Hyd set to charge into Formula-E fast lane
Many breakthroughs in the health sector
While the drop in maternal mortality rate (MMR) was the latest feather in the cap, the State of Telangana made many breakthroughs in the health sector this year.
MMR dropped from 92 in 2014 to 43 in 2020, making Telangana the third-best State in terms of MMR.
To address malnutrition, the State government launched ‘KCR Nutrition Kits’ for the nine districts where anaemia is a chronic issue.
Between October 12 to December 8, Telangana completed 17,47,269 teleconsultations, making it the third highest in the country.
As many as eight new medical colleges and attached government hospitals have been established this year.
56 TIFFA scan machines installed in public hospitals.
Through the free dialysis programme for chronic kidney disease (CKD), 50 lakh dialysis sessions have been completed this year.
The Telangana government also made knee-replacement surgeries available in all district hospitals, increased the number of dialysis centres to 102 (it was 3 in 2014) and launched a meal service programme for attendees to patients in 18 government hospitals in Hyderabad.
Hyd-based firms do wonders in space
Hyderabad-based companies have created a record in the country in the space sector this year.
It all started with the city-based space tech startup, Skyroot Aerospace creating history on November 18 by launching India’s first private rocket.
Incubated at T-Hub, Skyroot has raised $ 68 million in funding. The firm was started by former ISRO engineers Pawan Kumar Chandana and Naga Bharat Daka in 2018.
Another startup Dhruva Space has launched two amateur radio communication nanosatellites as part of ISRO’s PSLV C54 mission. The mission, codenamed Thybolt, launched the company’s nanosatellites, on November 28.
Established in 2012, Dhruva Space is a full-stack space engineering
solutions provider based out of Hyderabad.
TS turns into the land of opportunities
Telangana is slowly, but surely, turning out to be the land of opportunity for investors in the country, with marquee companies queuing up in 2022 to set up their facilities in the State.
According to TS-iPASS data for FY 2022-23, Telangana landed investments worth Rs 19,630 crore which will provide employment for more than 70,000 people.
Some major investment announcements
Amazon Web Services Inc. (AWS): The company will invest about $4.4 billion (Rs 36,300 crore) by 2030 through the Hyderabad region. The investment will support more than 48,000 full-time jobs.
Rajesh Exports: Rajesh Exports (Elest), a Fortune-500 company, will be setting up India’s first display FAB to manufacture the most advanced AMOLED displays, with an investment of Rs 24,000 crore.
Microsoft: This company will invest Rs 15,000 crore to set up India’s largest data centre in Hyderabad. The new data centre will offer advanced data security, cloud solutions and many others.
Amara Raja Batteries Ltd: The company has announced plans to invest Rs 9,500 crore in Mahbubnagar over a period of 10 years by setting up a 16 GWh capacity Lithium Cell Gigafactory, thereby creating 4,500 jobs.
Qualcomm: The global tech giant will be investing Rs 3,904.55 crore to expand its Hyderabad operations over the next five years. This investment will lead to employment for about 8,700 software professionals.
Restoration of bowlis gets international recognition
Intro: The State government, along with the help from different bodies, restored several step wells (also known as bowlis) in Hyderabad. The restorative work put into the revival of these historic stepwells has been recognised at the international level as well.
The Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC), which earlier restored the Humayun Tombs in Delhi restored six stepwells at the Qutb Shahi Heritage Park. It was inaugurated by Industries & IT Minister KT Rama Rao and US Consul General Jennifer Larson on September 15.
The restored Golconda stepwells bagged the ‘Award of Distinction’ at the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation.
The 17th-century Bansilalpet stepwell in Secunderabad was also developed into a tourism plaza and inaugurated on December 5. Around 2,000 tonnes of garbage accumulated over the past four decades was removed from the stepwell.
The revival of Bansilal stepwell caught Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s attention. During his Mann ki Baat programme, he praised the efforts of officials in restoring the structure.
The restoration project has also received the prestigious Big 5 Construction Impact Award in Dubai from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government.
Arvind Kumar, Special Chief Secretary of the MAUD Department, announced that the authorities are planning to take up the restoration of 10 more stepwells in the next four months.
Awards galore
The year brought recognition for the Telangana government’s work with the State winning several prestigious awards at the national level.
In October, the Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MAUD) Department was conferred the Green Champion Award by the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC).
In the same month, the Government of India awarded Telangana the first prize among the States and UTs of the country for providing adequate and potable water supply on a regular basis to rural households.
The International Association of Horticultural Producers (AIPH) judged Hyderabad city as the Grand Winner of the World Green City Awards– 2022.
As many as 16 ULBs in Telangana received Swachh Survekshan-2022
TS won National Tourism Awards in four categories
441 government hospitals in Telangana qualified for Kayakalp awards for the financial year 2021-22,
Telangana was recognised as the top performer in the State Startup Rankings 2021
19 National Panchayat awards under various categories, three TS districts bagged awards for reducing TB. Ours was the best-performing state in midwifery.