Another surprise at a surprise meeting
It was a surprise when the TDP’s Nara Lokesh finally got the chance — after waiting ever since his father’s arrest — to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah. What was even more surprising was the presence of Union Minister Kishan Reddy. Sources said that the BJP Telangana chief had to dash to Delhi after being summoned to the meeting. While it is not clear what solace Shah offered to Lokesh, the presence of Kishan has led to speculation, with sources saying the BJP sought the support of the TDP for the upcoming Telangana polls as this could give it a 2–3% vote share boost.
‘Ratentha only indicates Cong is in demand’
The ruling BRS has been taunting the TPCC chief, calling him "Ratentha Reddy" (What is your price, Reddy?). While the pink party is alleging that he is selling seats for cash, Revanth appears to be unperturbed. The TPCC chief is reported to have quipped that the allegation only indicates that the Congress is in demand in Telangana. He is also said to have clarified that he was not accepting money from any of the aspirants and that he was not the ticket-sanctioning authority.
Parachute problem in BJP too
It is not just the cadre of the resurgent Congress who resent the entry of ‘parachute’ leaders. The BJP too is now facing the problem. On Thursday for instance, a former MLA who couldn’t find space in the Congress joined the saffron party. The ‘original’ BJP workers suddenly find themselves having to deal not only with leaders whom they had been criticising all along but also tolerate their followers. “If the ticket is given to party-hoppers, how can we be expected to work? Though we will ultimately work for the party no matter who gets the ticket, we have no one to pour out our anguish,” a group of ‘original’ BJP cadres told this correspondent.
X-factors
Photos and videos usually fetch the most views on X (formerly Twitter). With some exceptions — one of them being a reply (quote-tweet) by Revanth Reddy. While tweets of the TPCC chief usually have around 50K views or less, his reply to a recent emotional post by Telangana minister KT Rama Rao appears to have struck a chord. After KTR tweeted a photo of himself with his son Himanshu, now studying in the US, with the caption “missing this kid”, Revanth quote-tweeted him and wrote, “Your heart is getting heavy thinking about your son who has been for some days. Do you think the misery of the parents of lakhs of unemployed youth staying away from their parents is not like yours?” Revanth’s reply was viewed 4.48 lakh times till Thursday night.
KA Paul toes BJP line
Alleging that the BRS and the Congress were one and the same in Telangana and that Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao was trying to ensure that only candidates of either of these parties were elected, Praja Shanthi Party president KA Paul on Thursday said that his party would contest all the 119 Assembly seats in the State. Paul then proceeded to invite aspirants to send their applications, along with `10,000 each as party fund.
Inputs: VV Balakrishna, Ireddy Srinivas Reddy, B Kartheek, Vivek Bhoomi