Conspiring against siblings
Going against the dubious practice of politicians lobbying to get plum posts for their respective family members, a few leaders of the ruling Congress seem to be striving to ensure their own siblings are denied the posts that they are aspiring for.
Take for instance the case of Chennur MLA Gaddam Vivek Venkataswamy who is trying to secure a berth in Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s Cabinet. But to the surprise of many, his own brother and legislator from Bellampally, Vinod is reportedly creating obstacles in Vivek’s path as he too is eyeing a Cabinet berth.
Munugodu MLA Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy too is facing a similar predicament as his elder sibling and R&B and Cinematography Minister Venkat Reddy, for some reason, is believed to be working against his interests. But there is at least one leader who is following the tradition. Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy is doing his best to secure the deputy speaker post for his wife and Kodad MLA Padmavathi.
Reclaiming lost space
After staying out of the limelight, albeit briefly, post her release on bail from jail in Delhi excise scam, former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s daughter and BRS MLC K Kavitha is trying to reclaim the lost political space. Kavitha, who has been raising her voice on behalf of BCs, demanding that Jyotiba Phule statue be installed on the Assembly premises, is reportedly eyeing a key role in the state politics as well as within the pink party as her brother KT Rama Rao and brother-in-law T Harish Rao are busy not only in taking on the state government but also in dealing with the allegations being made against them by the ruling Congress leaders about several alleged irregularities and scams. As one source put it, Kavitha wants a role in BRS that is similar to the ones donned by Supriya Sule in her father Sharad Pawar’s NCP and former Tamil Nadu CM late M Karunanidhi’s daughter Kanimozhi in DMK.
CM’s love for tea
The obsession of Hyderabadis with tea, including state’s top brass, is well known. Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy is no exception. On a casual visit to Gandhi Bhavan, the Congress headquarters, the office staff served him tea. No big deal, right? Well, here’s the catch: Even before his security team ran a mandatory full chemical analysis on his cup of chai, Revanth, in true Hyderabad fashion, had already finished his tea! He downed another cup of tea before the security team was done with their ‘mission impossible’ to ensure the safety of the hot beverage. His security team heaved a sigh of relief as there was nothing amiss with the tea.