While a flood of applications from aspirants seeking to contest on the Congress ticket for all the 119 Assembly constituencies have been submitted, the Kodangal Assembly constituency stands out amidst the stiff competition. There is only one leader in the race for this seat. He is none other than TPCC chief A Revanth Reddy. What baffles political pandits is why there is no other aspirant for the constituency from where the Congress was unsuccessful in the previous elections. Is it because the party leaders didn’t want to come under the wrath of the party State president? Or will the party high command in Delhi give a ticket to the lone applicant without any questions? wonder party leaders.
Congress snub to Kharge irks SC/ST leaders
The Telangana Congress leaders went to town when Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi meetings were held in the State. Senior leaders of the party gave TV and newspaper advertisements praising the leadership of the two Gandhi scions. But the same hype and hoopla was missing when AICC president Mallikarjunga Kharge came to Telangana to release the party’s SC/ST Declaration on Saturday. Advertisements were conspicuous by their absence. Taking umbrage at this insult to an SC leader heading the grand old party, SC/ST netas are planning to complain to the Congress leadership.
HC ruling blessing or bane for DK Aruna?
The Telangana High Court ruling disqualifying BRS MLA Gadwal Krishanmohan Reddy following an affidavit issue has come as good news for DK Aruna as she was declared the winner of the seat. But there is a hitch. Aruna contested the election in 2018 on a Congress ticket. After the defeat, she had joined the BJP and now she is even the national vice-president of the party. She was felicitated by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday in Khammam for her legal victory, though technically as per the HC ruling, Aruna should be a Congress MLA. She definitely finds herself in a state of limbo.
VHR gets his point across to Kharge
Veteran Congress leader V Hanumantha Rao, aka VHR, who is known for his trademark punchlines and outspokenness, minced no words at expressing his displeasure over his exclusion from the Congress Working Committee (CWC) at the Poru Garjana public meeting, where AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge unveiled SC/ST Declaration. Though VHR this time was not at his best in delivering his punchline, Kharge got the point and reminded the former that the party key panel was expanded to accommodate six each from BCs and SCs. However, VHR seemed unsatisfied with the response. It was then that Kharge promised to release another CWC list, keeping the veteran Telangana leader’s hopes alive.
GHMC council meetings reduced to a joke?
A majority of GHMC corporators, irrespective of their political affiliations, eagerly wait for council meetings as they are the only platform for them to raise the issues concerning citizens. But sadly, such council meetings are rare now. If they are lucky, they are held once in three months as they are mandatory as per the GHMC Act, not for discussing serious issues facing the people in the city. Thus, lakhs of rupees of taxpayer money is going down the drain as it’s being spent on providing sumptuous lunch, tea and snacks to the corporators.
One such council meeting held on Wednesday turned out to be a damp squib. It began at around 11 am and was adjourned before 2 pm with only a few questions being taken up for discussion. It was peaceful as no serious issue was discussed, giving no reason for the members to raise their voice. If the charade angered the corporators, the shoddy approach of Mayor Gadwal Vijayalaxmi in conducting the meeting for a very short spell ruffled their feathers as they were not allowed to raise any issues pertaining to their wards.
Inputs: Ireddy Srinivas Reddy, B Kartheek, S Bachan Jeet Singh