Fizzling out
The political fireworks, which Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy told reporters accompanying him during his South Korea tour would “explode” during Deepavali time, had citizens scouring the skies expectantly. The minister had even said that the files related to some of the scams have been escalated. However, Deepavali came and went, and the only thing that fizzled was expectations. Ultimately, it wasn’t just Ponguleti who was left feeling sheepish— the entire party was left waiting for something, anything, to take off. Now the question remains: Will these long-awaited fireworks make an appearance at the next festival, Sankranti? Or will the party just keep lighting matches and hoping for the best?
Eye on the prize
Three BJP MPs have been quite busy of late, targeting the Congress government and in particular, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, as well as his predecessor K Chandrasekhar Rao. Their regular political remarks, public challenges and targeted visits make it clear that they do not want the eye of the high command to shift from them. While one of the MPs has been particularly vocal about the Musi rejuvenation project, another MP has been critical of the performance of both the Congress and the BRS regimes. The third MP has also focused on the BRS, while accusing the Congress of shortcomings. Their goal too is clear — the state BJP president post. It remains to be seen if they manage to impress the high command enough to give any one of them the responsibility.
Game of thrones
Following the recent reassignment of a few IAS officers from Telangana to Andhra Pradesh under cadre allocation, bureaucratic circles in Telangana are abuzz with speculations about who will benefit. Expectations are that some senior IAS officers, who are in charge of less prominent roles, may be given key positions. Reports indicate that IAS officers who previously held important posts in the KCR regime are likely to continue in crucial, and influential, posts. This has failed to alleviate the unease among the other bureaucrats. Concerns are reportedly growing among these officers that if the government favours long-serving officers in key positions, it may limit opportunities for others and thereby affect their career graphs.