Call it a well-thought-out strategy or just a coincidence, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy seems to have hit multiple birds with one stone with the conduct of the inaugural Gaddar Awards.
A rousing performance by a host of musicians, rendering the state song “Jaya Jayahe Telangana” not only led to the Revanth government going one better than the previous BRS regime, but also helped it connect with all sections of the people with Telangana sentiment.
Incidentally, it is the second official programme in recent times to feature the state song, the other being the Miss World Pageant. It is not just Telangana pride, the CM also appeared to have derived some mileage by personally presenting some of the awards to the winners in various categories during the gala night.
The event came at a rather interesting time — not long after the demolition of Nagarjuna’s N-Convention and Allu Arjun’s arrest following the Sandhya Theatre stampede. And while all this played out under the spotlight, the BRS camp curiously chose silence, offering no comment on the awards or the selection process.
Awakening for Kavitha?
In recent days, BRS MLC K Kavitha has raised several questions about the party’s direction and the leadership of its president and her father KCR, who she claimed was surrounded by ‘devils’. Yet there has been no response from KCR, nor has any action been taken against her. Kavitha went to the Erravalli farmhouse just before the former CM left for Hyderabad to appear before the PC Ghose Commission. It was the first time she had gone to the farmhouse since the leak of her letter to ‘daddy’. It was not clear if they had even spoken, and the MLC did not accompany her father to BRK Bhavan.
Her recent events organised under the Telangana Jagruthi banner have conspicuously lacked BRS cadre or flags, a detail not lost on observers. All this has only deepened speculation that she might not have much support within the party.