Oops.. Shanker did it again!!

Textiles and Handlooms Minister Dr P Shanker Rao is a maverick, who has been on a rampage for some time now. Shanker created sensation when his letter was treated as PIL by High Court and ordered CBI inquiry agianst Jagan Mohan Reddy. Of late, he has been making allegations against his own Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy as well as other ministerial colleagues openly.

A letter purported to have been written by Shanker Rao is now doing the rounds in the media. The letter is a complaint to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi against CM Kiran, who is described as ‘corrupt, and several other ministers in his cabinet. The sooner they are removed from their posts the better for the Congress Party, the letter advises.
While Shanker Rao vehemently denied that he had written and that his letterhead was stolen and his signature forged, the moot point who was the brains behind the letter since it certainly points to a vested interest. Here is copy of the letter allegedly written by Shanker Rao.

Jupudi feeling the heat

The few leaders from Congress, who continue to be with Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSR Congress Party, are feeling the heat. With the ruling party bent on punishing even the four MLCs loyal to Jagan, these leaders feel cornered. Jupudi Prabhakara Rao, nominated MLC, is one such staunch follower of Jagan who finds himself on tenterhooks.
The dalit leader of Mala Mahanadu was encouraged by the late YSR, who made him MLC by getting him nominated through the Governor. He has been with Jagan from day one, but sources close to him say that the former Central government employee is going through financial constraints.
Jagan, as is known by now, never bothered to take care of his needs, and the MLC’s only source of income is what he gets as salary and perks in his official position. That has been barely enough, since where ever he goes, the dalits throng him and even organizing small meeting with them has become an expensive affair, his followers say.
Now with the threat of disqualification looming large, Jupudi is getting nervous. He still hopes that as Governer’s nominee, he might escape the dragnet on technical grounds. But if his disqualification becomes inevitable, the dalit leader fears that he will be left in the lurch for a long time to come.
How to sustain for another two-and-a-half years politically with no income and without Jagan’s help – not forthcoming anyway – is now the troublesome question bothering Jupudi Prabhakara Rao.

Jagan Resumes Attack On Sonia!

YSR Congress party president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, who has been maintaining restraint on attacking the Congress party at the Centre for quite some time, resumed the attack again on Thursday.
Addressing a gathering as part of his Odarpu Yatra in Guntur district, Jagan said Congress president Sonia Gandhi was able to run the UPA government at the Centre only because of the efforts of his father Y S Rajasekhara Reddy in the state.
“If not for the hard work of YSR in 2004 and 2009, Sonia Gandhi would not have been in this position,” he said.
However, Jagan did not make stronger comments against Sonia, but according to political observers, he might step up attack on her in the coming days.
Apparently, Jagan is emboldened by the support of 18 MLAs and the outcome of the Bellary bypoll result. He is perhaps of the view that he would still emerge as victorious in the elections despite the CBI inquiry against him.
All these days, there was a talk that Jagan had stopped criticizing Sonia Gandhi as part of his compromise with the central leadership of the Congress party following the CBI inquiry.

FIR on SM Krishna

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An FIR has been registered against External Affairs Minister SM Krishna, Congress MP Dharam Singh and Janata Dal (Secular) MP HD Kumaraswamy in the illegal mining case. The FIR has been filed in relation to private complaint filed against them by one TJ Abraham in the Karnataka Lokayukta court.

Lokayukta court had said on Saturday that this complaint needs investigation by Lokayukta police. The complaint is based on former Karnataka Lokayukta Santosh Hegde's report on illegal mining.
The FIR names Krishna, Dharam Singh and Kumaraswamy for their alleged roles during their terms as Karnataka chief minister.
The FIR also names 11 others including four Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers and one retired Indian Police Service (IPS) officer.
The offences have been registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act, Forest Conservation Act, Karnataka Forest Act, Mines and Minerals Regulation Act, Indian Penal Code Sections 204, 405, 406, 463, 465, 468, 471 and 423.
A special team headed by Lokayukta SP Jagadish Prasad to investigate the allegations has been formed. The next date of hearing is January 6, 2012.

Jagan strength surprises parties

వై.ఎస్.ఆర్.కాంగ్రెస్ అధ్యక్షుడు జగన్మోహన్ రెడ్డి ఎంతమంది ఎమ్మెల్యేలను నిలబెట్టుకుంటారని కాంగ్రెస్ , టిడిపి ముఖ్యనేతలు భావించారు? పద్దెనిమిది మంది ఎమ్మెల్యేలను నిలబెట్టుకోవడంపై వారు ఎలా స్పందిస్తున్నారు? అవిశ్వాస తీర్మానంపై చర్చ రసపట్టుకు చేరుకున్నప్పుడు ఒక దశలో శాసనసభ ప్రాంగణంలో తెలుగుదేశం, కాంగ్రెస్ ముఖ్యనేతలు జగన్ కు మద్దతు ఇస్తున్నవారి సంఖ్య సింగిల్ డిజిట్ కుపడిపోయిందని భావించారు. తెలుగుదేశం ముఖ్యనేత ఒకరైతే జగన్ బలం ఐదారుకన్నా ఉండదని తనకు సమాచారం వచ్చిందని అన్నారట. అది కూడా వైఎస్ విజయమ్మతోపాటు, బాలినేని శ్రీనివాసరెడ్డి, మేకపాటి చంద్రశేఖరరెడ్డి, కడప జిల్లాకు చెందిన ఒకరిద్దరు మాత్రమే మిగులుతారని వారు భావించారు. కాంగ్రెస్ ముఖ్యనేతలు సైతం ఇదే మాదిరి పదిలోపే ఉంటుందని అనుకున్నారు.అయితే రాజ్యసభ సభ్యుడు కెవిపి రామచంద్రరావు మాత్రం జగన్ కు మద్దతు ఇచ్చేవారి సంఖ్య పదిహేడు వరకు ఉండవచ్చని లెక్కగట్టారు. అయినప్పట్టికీ చివరివరకు అంతమంది ఉండకపోవచ్చని కాంగ్రెస్ నేతలు అనుకున్నారు. కాని విజయమ్మతో సహా పందొమ్మిది మంది ఎమ్మెల్యేలు జగన్ కు మద్దతు ఇచ్చారని తేలడంతో ఒక్కసారే ఆశ్చర్యపోయారట. తమకైతే ఒక్కసారే ఉలిక్కి పడినట్లయిందని తెలుగుదేశం నాయకుడు ఒకరు వ్యాఖ్యానించారు. డెబ్బైమంది ఎమ్మెల్యేలు ఉంటారని జగన్ గతంలో చెప్పిన పాయింటు ఆధారంగా తాము విమర్శలు చేసినా, పద్దెనిమిది మంది ఎమ్మెల్యేలు జగన్ కు మద్దతు ఇవ్వడం కచ్చితంగా తమను ఆలోచింపచేసేదే అయిందని ఆయన అన్నారు. అలా గే కాంగ్రెస్ నేతలు సైతం ఈ పరిణామానికి ఉలిక్కిపడ్డారు.అందువల్లనే ఇప్పుడు వారిపై అనర్హత వేటు వేయడానికి వెనుకా,ముందు అయ్యే పరిస్థితి వచ్చిందని వ్యాఖ్యానిస్తున్నారు. ధైర్యంగా కాంగ్రెస్ నేతలు తాము విప్ ఉల్లంఘించినవారిపై అనర్హత వేటు వేయబోతున్నామని ధైర్యంగా చెప్పలేకపోతున్నారని చెబుతున్నారు. ఉప ఎన్నికలు వస్తే ఎదురయ్యే ఇబ్బందులను దృష్టిలో ఉంచుకునే వారు ఇలా వ్యవహరిస్తున్నారని భావిస్తున్నారు.

Jagan dares Congress

After getting the support of as many as 18 MLAs in the floor test in Assembly yesterday, Jagan today declared that his MLAs were ready to go to the people if by-polls were inevitable.
“If the Congress has guts, it should disqualify all our MLAs at one go,” he challenged at a press conference in Hyderabad. Both Congress and TDP would lose deposits, he said.
Surrounded by his MLAs at his Lotus Pond office, Jagan said his people redefined politics by their action. Describing what happened on the floor of the House during the motion as “historic”, Jagan thanked his MLAs for their conviction. With this step, our party will now be seen as a by-word for credibility and values in politics, he added.
Accusing the Congress leaders of trying to woo his MLAs with both carrot and stick, Jagan said while one MLA Balaraju was threatened with encounter, Sucharita was hinted at CBI inquiry agaisnt her husband, an income tax official. Another MLA Babu Rao was told he would not be able to move around his constituency Payakaraopet.
He charged Chandrababu Naidu with insincerity over farmers’ issues and said that the TDP chief tried to provoke YSR loyalist MLAs into supporting Congress, by attacking the late YSR.
Chandrababu also failed to move the motion six months earlier when ruling party did not have the support of Chiranjeevi’s MLAs.
He also pointed out that a charge sheet was filed in Gali Janardhana Reddy case and his name did not figure in the case despite what all the ‘biased media’ wrote about.

Kiran survives, Jagan proves point

The opposition sponsored no-confidence motion against the Congress government in Andhra Pradesh was defeated by a huge margin in the state assembly late Monday night.
After over a 16-hour-long debate on the motion moved by Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the house voted on the motion after 1 a.m. While 122 members supported the motion, 160 opposed it and there was one neutral. Five members were absent during the voting.
Though 16 Congress legislators loyal to YSR Congress party leader Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy violated the whip to vote in favour of the motion, it was not enough to defeat the government.
The ruling party has 153 members in 295-member house. The magic figure required to defeat the motion was 143 as there are seven vacancies in the house.
In addition to ruling party's 136 members, 17 out of 18 legislators of Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) and all seven members of Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) opposed the motion.
All 85 members of TDP, 12 of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), four of CPI, two of BJP, one each of CPI-M, YSR Congress party and independent voted for the motion.
Though YSR Congress party's honorary president Vijayamma had reached the assembly in the morning with 18 Congress rebels, the number dwindled to 16 by the time of the voting. Suspense over the actual strength of Jagan group continued till the last minute as Congress leaders made all out efforts to win back rebels.
Announcing the defeat of the motion, Speaker N. Manohar adjourned the house sine die.
On the last day of the five-day winter session, the house debated the motion for over 16 hours. The debate was marred by not just heated exchanges between treasury and opposition benches but also by the allegations and counter allegations among the parties supporting the motion.
If the final result at the no-confidence vote was to be taken into account, the Congress has only 137 members whereas the combined Opposition strength was 122.
“If one were to take out the combined strength of PRP and MIM (24 MLAs) and add it to the Opposition tally, it would almost reach the magical 150-mark which is sufficient to unseat the Kiran government. It was a close shave for the CM. Despite his bravado, the CM must be feeling the jitters,” a senior analyst pointed out.

Vijayamma makes impressive maiden speech

YSR’s wife and YSR Congress Party’s sole MLA in the Assembly Vijayamma made her maiden speech in the Assembly during the debate on no-confidence motion and she made an emotional impact. Her speech was halting most of the time, but she overcame the initial hesitation a couple of minutes through the speech.
Her 16-mintue speech contained all important points she wanted to make. She reminisced fondly about her husband, pointed out the irony of the situation when she had to speak in an Assembly without YSR’s presence. She pointed out how both Congress and TDP made critical references to her late husband.
Reminding that the present government owed its existence to YSR’s hardwork, she said it was a quirk of fate that she had to vote against the same government. She also talked about how YSR worked all through his life for Congress Party and single-handedly brought it into power in the state.
She also took potshots on TDP and Chandrababu Naidu, sarcastically saying that she failed to understand whether the no-confidence was against YSR or for farmers.
Most importantly, she declared that her party as well as those who continued to be loyal towards YSR would vote for the no-confidence, whatever the motives of TDP were. She congratulated the MLAs loyal to YSR who were going to vote against Congress, even though they were aware that they might face disqualification.
She also felt that had TDP moved the confidence resolution six months earlier when Chiranjeevi had not merged his PRP with Congress, the government would have fallen.
On the whole, Vijayamma’s speech made an impact on the House, which listened to her raptly. Probably worried over the message her speech would send to the people at large, PCC Chief Botsa Satyanarayna was on his feet to clarify that Jagan deserted Congress on his own. Jagan wanted dynastic rule in the state and claimed CM’s seat as a matter of hereditary right, which was not possible in Congress, he said.
Botsa also pointed out, rather cryptically, that it was Kiran Kumar Reddy who defended Jagan when TDP charged YSR’s son with the murder of Paritala Ravi.
Vijayamma again rose to clarify that Jagan had to come out of Congress because the party did not give permission for his ‘Odarpu Yatra’. It was only towards the end of her speech that Jagan loyalists like Balineni rushed to her help.

Nara, Nallari bite at each other

Opposition leader Chandrababu Naidu and Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy had a bitter exchange during the debate on no-confidence motion today. Initiating the discussion on the motion, the TDP chief dubbed Kiran becoming Chief Minister as hitting a jackpot. To which, Kiran retorted that he served Congress Party and with the blessing of party high command, he became Chief Minister.

“I have not stabbed my father-in-law in the back like Chandrababu to grab the chair. Even if such a chance had come my way, I would not have stooped down like him,” he breathed fire.
Naidu replied that TDP got power through people, while Chief Ministers were nominated at the mercy of Sonia Gandhi in Congress Party. “It’s because of this sealed cover business of Congress that this state has been condemned to have Chief Ministers who lack leadership qualities or abilities,” he fumed.
Later, Chandrababu also charged CM’s family members with acting as ‘extra-Constitutional authority’. He said that Kiran’s brother Kishore Kumar Reddy is participating in government programs like Rachabanda and giving assurances to voters. Another brother Satish Kumar Reddy is interfering in government in Hyderabad. Kiran defended his family saying his brothers were part and parcel of his constituency and also a Congressmen for the last 15 years. “I don’t see anything wrong in that,” he replied.
The exchange turned ugly and personal when Kiran ridiculed Babu for entrusting his constituency responsibilities to his PA. Babu took strong exception at Kiran addressing him in singular. “I defeated your father Amaranatha Reddy. You are frustrated so much that you are devaluing the chair of CM,” he said.
Kiran said it was not his intention to insult opposition leader but said Naidu was in politics thanks to his father.

Will Jagan serve a surprise punch?

The ruling Congress seems to be confident of getting through the no-confidence motion today without much of a hitch. Despite all the jockeying by various parties, the numbers still seem to favour Kiran Kumar Reddy government.

The ruling combine commands 162 MLAs on its side, while the opposition could muster only 124 MLAs as of now. The PRP threat passed off as a storm in a cup and the less than convincing attempt of TRS to provoke T Congress MLAs to vote against the government failed miserably.
The MIM, after the understanding reached over Hyderabad Mayor post, is all set to support the government.
Jagan is still making last ditch efforts to throw a surprise by continually talking to his group MLAs, many of whom have already declared their vote to the Congress Party. His reported attempts at luring some T Congress MLAs yielded little result.
While Kiran’s government is under no threat of losing on the floor, the no-confidence is still generating lot of interest because of any unexpected developments in the Jagan camp. Even if a few Jagan MLAs vote for the motion, it would indeed trigger important political developments in the state, as by-polls would be necessitated, and Jagan’s YSR Congress will have an opportunity to prove its mettle in the electoral arena.
It is also to be seen who Lok Satta Jayaprakash Narayan, Associate Member Somarapu Satyanarayana (issued a Congress whip and Sobha Nagireddy (earlier PRP and now a Jagan loyalist) will vote for.

Congress, TDP, TRS whip MLAs

The ruling Congress and the opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) Sunday issued whips to their legislators on the opposition's no-confidence motion in the assembly.
While Congress directed all its 153 members in the 295-member house to vote against the TDP's no-confidence motion, the main opposition party asked its 86 legislators to back the motion when it comes up for voting Monday. TRS also asked all its 12 MLAs to be present in the house and vote for the motion.
Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) has not yet issued a whip to its lawmakers, keeping the Congress on its toes amid continuing uncertainty over the fate of the no-confidence motion.
PRP chief K. Chiranjeevi Sunday met 17 legislators of his party, who openly voiced unhappiness over being sidelined by the Congress even after the merger.
Since PRP remains a separate block in the assembly pending disposal of a petition in court by a PRP legislator challenging the merger, Chiranjeevi will have to issue a whip to ensure that all the legislators vote against the motion.
Unhappy over the delay in accommodating them in the state cabinet and other posts, the PRP MLAs are mounting pressure for their pound of flesh to bail-out the government.
Chiranjeevi briefed the MLAs about the assurance given by central Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad to him last night. However, the meeting could not take a decision on issuing a whip as some leaders wanted that they be allowed to vote according to their conscience.
Meanwhile, YSR Congress party chief Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy is holding a crucial meeting with Congress legislators loyal to him to take a final decision on his strategy. Twenty-one legislators, who met him Saturday, said they were ready to vote against the government and face by-elections if they were disqualified for violating party whip.
Two other loyalists opposed Jagan's decision to vote against the government and walked out of Saturday's meeting.
As many as 26 Congress rebels had switched loyalties to Jagan in August but some of them have since returned to the party fold.
Congress leaders including ministers met some of Jagan loyalists and handed them the party whip.
The ruling party is confident of defeating the motion with the support of PRP and its ally Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM), which has seven members.
PRP has 18 members in assembly but one of them Shoba Nagi Reddy is sailing with Jagan.
As there are seven vacancies in 295-member house (including a nominated member), Congress needs 144 votes to defeat the motion. The ruling party is sure of garnering 157 votes even if 21 rebels vote against it.
The parties which are in support of motion include CPI (4), BJP (2), CPI-M, Lok Satta and YSR Congress one each and one independent.

T-Congress MLAs in dilemma

More than anybody else, the no-confidence motion has put the Telangana Congress legislators in a piquant situation. There is a fear among a section of them that they could be branded as enemies of Telangana if they do not support the no-trust motion.
The reason is that the Telangana Rashtra Samithi has been projecting the no-confidence motion as a means to protest against the delay in creation of separate Telangana state. It has been making public statements that any vote in favour of the Congress government would be seen by the people of Telangana as a vote against the statehood cause.
“The pro-government voting will be viewed as supporting the betrayal of the statehood cause,” the TRS sources said. This has put the T-Congress MLAs in a fix. They can neither jettison the statehood cause nor can they afford to defy the party whipe and face disqualification from the Assembly.
The TRS Chief K Chandrasekhar Rao has already gone on record, appealing to all MLAs from the Telangana region, irrespective of their party affiliation, to vote in favour of the No- Confidence Motion against the Kiran Kumar Reddy Government which is responsible for the delay in creation of separate state.
“The Chief Minister has been using coercive methods to suppress the Telangana agitation and therefore, he must not be allowed to continue in power,” KCR said.

Its Jagan behind PRP MLAs revolt!!

The sudden heat generated in megastar-politician Chiranjeevi camp on the day the Opposition parties were gearing up for no-confidence motion against the Kiran Kumar Reddy government has raised many eyebrows in the political circles.
Though it is initially believed that Pradesh Congress Committee president Botsa Satyanarayana had instigated the yet-to-be wound up Praja Rajyam Party MLAs to pull down the Kiran government, reliable sources tell a different story.
Many of the MLAs in the Chiranjeevi camp were in touch with YSR Congress party president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy and had given them promise to pull down the Kiran government at the right time. They are not happy with the way the Chief Minister was ignoring them and the Congress party leaders in their respective constituencies ill-treating them.
However, Chiranjeevi, a political novice that he is, was of the view that all his MLAs would listen to his words. So, when he had a meeting of the MLAs at his chambers in the assembly, they all pulled him up for not taking up their cause with the Congress high command.
“You have ensured your own political future; you may get the union cabinet berth sooner or later. But, what about us? We have not got even corporation chairperson posts, leave alone cabinet berths in the state. We don’t even know whether we get the Congress tickets in the next elections and even if some us will get, we don’t know whether we will get support of the local Congress leaders. Instead, it is better to go the Jaganmohan Reddy camp. At least there, we will get some recognition and he would ensure our victory,” the MLAs are learnt to have told Chiranjeevi.
The megastar was taken aback with the revolt and it was only after that he had leaked to the media about the disgruntlement among his group MLAs. And Botsa had to personally intervene and pacify him.
Later in the evening, AICC general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad spoke to him and asked him to pacify his group MLAs. He assured to take care of the interests of the PRP legislators.

FDI(Family Direct Investment) approved

The noisy Indian democracy has scripted a silent revolution. The politicians have arrived at a consensus on FDI policy. That is Family Direct Investment. Top hierarchy of political parties can have 100 percent FDI, allowing for hereditary route to the coveted organizational positions.
Unlike its economic counterpart, where 51 percent Foreign Direct Investment proposal in multi-brand retail met with stiff resistance, the political FDI policy was widely welcomed. “In fact, there are no reforms involved here. It is essentially the reaffirmation of faith in the long cherished value system of respecting the dynastic rights of ruling families,” a Congress spokesman said.
Both the national leaders and the regional chieftains were equally excited about the prospect of giving the long-held tradition a legal and constitutional framework. According to the policy draft, cleared by the union cabinet, the sons and sons-in-law of the incumbent party chiefs will have birthright over the post which cannot be challenged in any court of law. The word “sons-in-law” was included in the definition of the family to please the southern satrap and TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu.
The political observers were quick to point out that this FDI policy was a masterstroke by the UPA leadership to get its sulking allies on board. “The DMK, NCP, RLD and MIM have extended their whole-hearted support to the policy. Even the potential allies like Samajwadi Party and RJD have pledged their support to us off the record,” the spokesman said.
Even some of the NDA allies like Shiv Sena and Shiromani Akali Dal and those in the no-man’s land like JD (S) and BJD were willing to cross over to UPA camp for upholding the great Indian family values. The development has also brightened the prospect of home-coming for YSR Congress President Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy who had walked out of the parent party for not applying the established family traditions in his case.
Asked about the “party with a difference” whose tallest bachelor leader has not named his heir apparent, the Congress spokesman quipped “For them, family means Parivar. Sangh Parivar, that is. So, it is the Sangh that decides the successor.” Similarly, the “ideological parents” from the foreign soil will guide the destiny of Indian communist parties, he reasoned.
While allowing 100 percent FDI in the top echelons of the party apparatus, the new policy, however, stipulates that 30 percent of the menial jobs like mobilizing donations and managing the voters must be sourced to the locally available small and medium thugs.

High drama in Andhra politics

The last 24 hours have witnessed a rapid change in the political equations in the state.
At a time when Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy was confident that majority of the party MLAs hitherto supporting YSR Congress party president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy are back in the Congress party and would support his government in the no-confidence motion, they gave him a rude shock by attending Jagan’s meeting and declaring that they would support the no-confidence motion.
And when he thought the MLAs from Praja Rajyam Party would also support his government, they, too, gave the Chief Minister a rude shock by expressing their resentment against him for ignoring them all these days and virtually blackmailing him that his survival depends on their support.
And the Telugu Desam Party which was struggling to keep its flock together received a pleasant surprise. Three rebel MLAs – K Hareeshwar Reddy, S Venugopala Chary and Y Balanagi Reddy, who were suspended from the party for revolting against party president N Chandrababu Naidu, expressed their willingness to come back into the party. And Naidu, who discussed it with his senior party leaders, gave them a green signal.
The only TDP rebel left out now is Nagam Janardhan Reddy, who not only lost his MLA seat, but also became a loner; as two others Jogu Ramanna and Gampa Goverdhan joined the Telangana Rashtra Samithi got their political future secure. It remains to be seen whether Nagam also will come back to the TDP or not.