News in Deccan Chronicle
CM flouts DS’s T gag order
Hyderabad:
The Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee president, Mr. D. Srinivas’s gag order on party leaders against speaking on Telangana has angered several leaders.
Interestingly, the Chief Minister, Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, himself flouted the order while participating in a TV show wherein he spoke about development in Telangana and other backward regions in the state.
Upset by the repeated wrangling by Congress leaders, including MPs L. Rajagopal and Madhu Yakshi, over the issue, the PCC chief instructed all party leaders and workers not to speak on Telangana since the matter was being considered by UPA chairperson, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi. He also warned of severe action if they spoke about issue. The PCC’s chief directive was able to silence vocal Telangana leaders like Mr. Madhu Yakshi.
However, some party leaders found the order untenable in private saying that they cannot be silent spectators when leaders from the Opposition and within the party talk about separate statehood.
“I am really surprised at the PCC chief’s fiat. Whenever we go to our constituencies everyone asks us about the progress over the issue. We cannot refuse to comment,” a Congress MLC and senior party leader said.
Another Congress MLA said that being silent when the Opposition has spoken in favour of Telangana, would create a wrong impression among people. “Everyone knows that the Chief Minister, Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, is against Telangana. But there is a major change in the Opposition’s stance. Two major parties — the Telugu Desam and the Praja Rajyam have come out in support of Telangana. Some forces are trying to suppress the voice of Telangana,” a senior Telangana leader alleged. However, CWC member and in-charge of Andhra Pradesh affairs, Mr. Veerappa Moily, has made it clear that the issue would be decided before the 2009 elections.
CM orders minister to patch up
Hyderabad:
The Chief Minister, Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, on Tuesday reportedly asked warring ministers for small-scale industries, Mr. Gollapalli Surya Rao and minister for panchayat raj, Mr. J.C. Diwakar Reddy to stop washing dirty linen in public and work for unity. The warring ministers, led by the finance minister, Mr. K. Rosaiah, met the Chief Minister to sort out the issue.
Later, both the leaders appeared before the media along with Mr. Rosaiah and Mr. Surya Rao recalled the misappropriation of funds in sand tenders and said that he did not accuse Mr. Diwakar Reddy of stealing the funds.
AP anxious over RIL plans for piped gas
Hyderabad:
The state government is anxious over oil major Reliance Industries Limited taking over Krishna Godavari Gas Network Limited, a special purpose vehicle set up to develop domestic gas distribution network in the state. Though the gas regulatory authority is all set to invite bids for the domestic network in November, Reliance is yet to act on the government’s request to partner with it in the project.
Official sources told this newspaper that the infrastructure department secretary recently wrote a letter to Reliance pursuing the proposal. He had reportedly informed the company about Gujarat government agreeing for dilution of its share and inviting Reliance into KGGNL. The state proposed to give 67 per cent equity to Reliance and share the remaining equity at 11 per cent each with Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation Limited and Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation for private equity. The Chief Minister, Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, was keen on developing the network in 43 municipalities and make electoral gains by supplying gas at a cheaper rate.
Nellore:
Large contingent of police being deployed for the security during the Chief Minister, Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy’s visit to Nellore on Wednesday. The CM is coming here to take part in the marriage function of Nellore legislator, Anam Vivekananda Reddy’s second son.
As many as 800 constables, 76, assistant sub inspectors, 49 sub inspectors, 18 circle inspectors, four deputy superintendents of police and one additional superintendent of police have been drafted for the security duties.
Those attending the marriage function include, union minister of state for health and family welfare, Ms. Panabaka Lakshmi, state ministers, Messrs, M. Venkataramana Rao, Mandali Buddha Prasad, Nedurumalli Rajyalakshmi, Kanna Lakshmi Narayana, Mohmmed Fariduddeen, Pinnmaneni Venkateswar Rao and Botsa Sathyanarayana. Dog squad and bomb squad teams have scanned the marriage venue located close to the national highway No 5 on Tuesday.
T champs perturbed as CM kicks up new row
CONTENTION OVER BHADRACHALAM
Hyderabad:
The fight between Telangana advocates and adversaries is crossing strange boundaries. After rejecting lack of development as a reason for the creation of a separate state and stating communal insecurity among the minorities as another, the T-cause opponents have raised a new one which rakes up many historical questions.
Telangana leaders have reacted strongly to the reported statement by CM Y S Rajasekhara Reddy that the people of East Godavari want the temple town of Bhadrachalam to be ceded to the Andhra region from Telangana’s Khammam district in case a separate state is carved out. Rajasekhara Reddy was said to have made this claim in a TV show on Monday.
According to the CM, Bhadrachalam was part of East Godavari district and was merged with the newly formed Khammam district in 1956. So the people of East Godavari district want restoration of pre-1956 status, implying that the temple town should be ‘returned’ to them.
Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) chief K Chandrasekhar Rao, Nava Telangana Party president T Devender Goud and and Telangana ideologue K Jaisankar have strongly condemned the CM’s statement and claim it is a complete distortion of history.
According to Jaisankar, a former vice-chancellor of Kakatiya University, Bhadrachalam has always been under the administration of either the Quli Qutub Shah dynasty or the Nizams. “Bhadrachalam’s tehsildar was always appointed by the Golconda kings earlier and later by the Asaf Jahis.” he said.
In fact, before Bhadrachalam came under Khammam district, it was part of Burgumpahad taluk of the erstwhile Warangal district, and carved out from Warangal in 1953 to become part of Khammam. “Bhakta Ramadas, the legendary writer of Ramakirtanas, was appointed as tehsildar of Bhadrachalam by the Golconda kings in the mid-17th century. And the Nizams used to send Talambralu (pearl offerings to Lord Ram for Sriramnavami every year) to theBhandrachalam temple. Therefore, the temple town was never part of East Godavari district,” the Telangana ideologue said.
TRS chief KCR demanded that the Telangana he was fighting for should comprise the erstwhile-Nizam ruled regions that still fall under Andhra Pradesh.
“Whether Bhadrachalam was part of Telangana or not, the Telangana state should be created based on the boundaries of the erstwhile Nizam state in the Telugu speaking areas,” KCR said.
Govt urged to resume Wakf lands
Hyderabad:
Legislative council deputy chairman Mohammad Jani on Tuesday asked the state government to set up a Wakf development corporation for the upkeep of Wakf properties and urged chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy to stop alienating Wakf land to agencies like APIIC.
Jani told reporters that he had called on the CM to apprise him of the ground reality regarding Wakf properties in the state.
He opined that the government need not spend anything for the welfare of Muslims in the state if all Wakf lands given away to big companies were reverted to the Wakf Board or the proposed corporation. “The setting up of a corporation for the development of Wakf properties will send positive signals to Muslims as the revenue generated by developing these lands would be enough to meet the expenditure incurred on the overall development of the community. There is an estimated 1.37 lakh acres of Wakf land across the state,” he said.
News in The Hindu
Sevadal team meets YSR
Explain problems in medical, health sector, availability of domestic LPG cylinders
The delegation submitted a detailed report on the problem to the Chief Minister
ANANTAPUR:
A delegation of district Congress Sevadal executive committee led by district chairman D. Ravishankar Reddy has represented the problems of Kadiri area, particularly in the medical and health sector and in the availability of domestic LPG cylinders, to Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy in Hyderabad.
The delegation explained the Chief Minister that Kadiri was the poorest in the district both socially and economically due to unfertile lands and dry weather conditions.
Livelihood problems
Livelihood problems would always drive the people into migration throughout the year as the farm sector would generate very few wage days in a year. The livelihood issue was resolved to a large extent with the introduction of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS). The government area hospital at Kadiri has 17 sanctioned doctor posts but only 7 were working now, in spite of it being made a network hospital for the prestigious Rajiv Arogyasri scheme.
Lack of infrastructure and poor allocation for medicines was also putting the poor people visiting the hospital to hardships unable to bear the expenditure for diagnosis and medicines outside the hospital, Mr. Ravishankar Reddy stated.
The delegation submitted a detailed report on the problem to the Chief Minister and the latter had assured to look into the matter.
They also explained about the hardships of people in getting the domestic LPG refills due to the large-scale irregularities by the private agencies in Kadiri.
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