Cong on revamp spree with new found vigour

HYDERABAD: Enthused over success in the election of Speaker, the Congress high command has turned its focus on other pending issues including finding a new PCC chief, expansion of state cabinet and announcing the date for formal merger of PRP with the Congress party.

Soon after the assembly adjourned sine die, Chiranjeevi left for the national capital. He will be meeting the AICC in-charge of state affairs, Gulam Nabi Azad, to discuss the formal merger and his future role in the party affairs. The possibility of discussing the issue of accommodating PRP leaders in the state cabinet is not ruled out, according to party sources.

With the absence of about 21 Congress members when the election for the Speaker and Deputy Speaker took place on Saturday, the support of PRP's 18 members saved the government from embarrassment.

According to the indications available from AICC sources, the exercise of cabinet expansion is expected to be taken up now and by next week the chief minister may be asked to complete the process which will be followed by the announcement of the new PCC president. PRP sources are hopeful to get three berths in the cabinet while from Congress side J C Diwakar Reddy, seniormost member in House and the day's protem speaker is tipped to join the cabinet. Sources say, "Since the MLAs from YS Jagan camp also cooperated in the election of the Speaker, the CM may not drop any of those who are said to be close to Jagan. Instead he will take a couple MLAs from the PRP side and effect a reshuffle of portfolios," the sources say.

As for the PCC president is concerned, the competition is said to have narrowed down to three people, Botsa Satyanarayana, Kanna Lakshminarayana and Ponnala Lakshmaiah, all ministers in Kiran's cabinet. All of them are Kapus of different hues.

Ready to face no trust motion: Kiran

HYDERABAD: Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy has asserted that his government was prepared to face a no confidence motion if the Opposition parties pressed for it further since the election to the Speaker and Deputy Speaker had shown the Congress party's real strength.

Disqualification

He admitted that the Congress was concerned about some of its MLAs siding with YSR Congress Party president Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy and was closely monitoring the situation. The procedure for disqualification of some of these legislators was pending with the Speaker.

“We will take appropriate action at an appropriate time,” he told reporters after the Assembly was adjourned sine die on Saturday.

Defends move

Mr. Kiran Kumar Reddy defended the sudden change in voting procedure for the Speaker's election claiming that it was made in the light of the Supreme Court judgment in 2006 and in order to follow the practices and conventions in Parliament. The rules were framed in 1970s and several changes were made subsequently.

“We need to change our procedures and, accordingly, the Rules Committee will be asked to go through the issue,” he said.

Commenting on the number of votes polled by the Congress candidates – 158 in the Speaker's and 164 in the Deputy Speaker's election – he said the number could have been higher but for the absence of some MLAs who were abroad and some others on health grounds.

Cabinet reshuffle

About the possibility of a Cabinet reshuffle, he said the changes would be made as and when required and hinted that representation would be given to the Praja Rajyam Party. On filling the vacant posts of corporation chiefs, he said a decision would be taken soon on the issue.

Naidu wants Governor to reconvene Assembly

Tough stand: Leader of the Opposition N. Chandrababu Naidu accompanied by party legislators coming out after meeting Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan in Hyderabad on Saturday.

HYDERABAD: Telugu Desam Party has sought Governor E. S. L. Narasimhan's intervention on Saturday in re-convening the Assembly for taking up its no confidence motion against the Kiran Kumar Reddy government.

Leading a large delegation of Telugu Desam Party MLAs to the Raj Bhavan, party president N. Chandrababu Naidu informed the Governor that his party had submitted notices on the no confidence motion twice but there was no word from the Assembly Speaker.

Logical end

The party was prepared to serve another if necessary and it was determined to take it to the logical end, to highlight the government's indifference towards farmers.

Talking to reporters later, he said the newly elected Deputy Speaker has not followed clearly laid down procedures and left the House after adjourning it sine die, without taking up their motion for grant of leave. This is nothing but wilful violation of Rules of Busines. Once the notice is served, the Speaker is bound to take it up and make the government prove its strength as per constitutional procedures, he said.

Voice vote

The party also pointed to the Governor, that election to the posts of Speaker and Deputy Speaker too were conducted in authoritarian manner. It was made clear on Friday that a secret ballot would be followed but the pro tem speaker, J. C. Diwakar Reddy, allowed voice vote and declared the election of the Speaker without even looking at the nominations filed by the TDP.

Jagan criticised

Mr. Naidu accused the YSR Congress Party with reaching a “settlement” with the Congress leaders of Delhi on saving the government. Otherwise there is no reason Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy did not use the opportunity to show his strength by voting against the Congress candidates.

Mr. Jagan who had boasted that the Congress government is surviving at his mercy virtually ran away when a chance came his way to embarrass the government, he added.

Rousing reception to Jagan

In limelight:YSR Congress Party president Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy greets the crowd at Valluramma temple centre on the outskirts of Ongole on Saturday.

ONGOLE: Fresh from victory in the by-election to the Kadapa Lok Sabha seat, YSR Congress Party president Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy was accorded a rousing reception in the town on Saturday night.
Mr. Jaganmohan Reddy was offered a traditional welcome on the outskirts of the town at the famous Valluramma temple, where he offered special puja to the goddess.
Congress MLAs Balineni Srinivasa Reddy and B. Sivaprasada Reddy were among the large number of leaders and activists who welcomed the youth leader.
Mr. Jaganmohan Reddy paid floral tributes to the statue of his father Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy before entering the town. A large number of cars and motorcycles carrying frenzied youths followed him. Hundreds of YSR Congress Party activists turned euphoric as they danced on the streets to the drum beats. Vehicular traffic on the arterial Chennai-Kolkata highway came to a grinding halt between Valluramma and Pelluru for several hours.
The emotionally-charged youth burst crackers and hailed the record-breaking win of Mr. Jaganmohan Reddy from Kadapa and his mother Vijayamma from Pulivendula Assembly constituency.
Slogans such as ‘Y.S. Jagan future CM, ‘Y.S. Jagan zindabad' rented the air as the roadshow continued till late in the night.

Naidu asks ryots to topple government

On a mission:A woman showing damaged tobacco leaves to TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu at a public meeting held at Thakkellapadu in Guntur district on Saturday

SATTENAPALLI (GUNTUR DT.): Telugu Desam president N. Chandrababu Naidu has exhorted farmers to topple the government if it continues to be ‘indifferent' to their plight.
The government should purchase huge stocks of paddy lying in farmers' houses and private warehouses for minimum support price, pay compensation for the crops damaged due to unseasonal rain late last year, and take other steps to make agriculture profitable. Otherwise, there is no point in allowing the government to stay in power.
“You have seen how people in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu voted corrupt regimes out of power. If your problems are not to be solved, you also should come on to the roads and dislodge the government, the TDP will support you,” Mr. Naidu asserted.
Addressing farmers at the agricultural market yard here during his one-day tour of the district on Saturday, Mr. Naidu said wherever he went farmers have the same sordid tales to narrate but the government was apparently more worried about its survival in the wake of the latest political developments.
Most of the farmers were burdened by debt and their woes were compounded by the bank's reluctance to extend fresh loans and waive interest. The loss incurred by them due to natural calamities was a major blow to their livelihood.
Renowned agricultural scientist M.S. Swaminathan suggested a slew of remedial measures but none of them had been implemented till date. The prices of farm inputs, mainly fertilizers, and labour charges increased steeply making it extremely difficult for farmers to meet the rising expenditure.
Land acquisition
Mr. Naidu took objection to acquisition of about 460 acres of agricultural land around Atmakur, Tadepalli, Penumaka and Vundavalli in Mangalagiri Assembly constituency by the VGTM-UDA for townships and other projects. Instead of sitting at home, farmers should revolt against the injustice, like what happened in Singur and Nandigram. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took up the cause of farmers in Greater Noida while the same atrocities were being committed in this Congress-ruled State, he observed. Training guns on the government, Mr. Naidu said Ministers were ‘playing musical chairs' to cling to power. Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy could do nothing significant for farmers' welfare except giving statements to the media. He had no time for governance as he was preoccupied with the Congress' battle with Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy.
Both the parties spent huge sums for purchasing votes in the Kadapa by-elections. Sympathy and money power tilted the scales in favour of Mr. Jaganmohan Reddy and his mother in the by-elections, he alleged.
Narasaraopet MP Modugula Venugopala Reddy, Chilakaluripet MLA and district party president Pratthipati Pulla Rao, MLAs K. Sridhar, G.V. Anjaneyulu, Nakka Anand, former MP Lal Jan Basha, Umareddy Venkateswarulu, and Kodela Sivaprasada Rao were present.

KCR warns of Telangana agitation peaking again

Future strategy:Telangana JAC chairman M. Kodandaram with TRS president K. Chandrasekhar Rao and TNGO's Central Union president K. Swamy Goud at a meeting in Hyderabad on Saturday.

HYDERABAD: Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) president K. Chandrasekhar Rao has said that the issue of separate Telangana will get focussed at national and international levels by June 10 when the region will “boil” with agitations.
He also said an overdose of the agitation in the coming days was justified because the prime targets this time would be MPs and MLAs of Congress and Telugu Desam who have played mischievous games on the slogan of Telangana. He asked the supporters of Telangana to keep the missiles ready for Congress MPs if they did not resign, as promised, in the event of Statehood not being granted by the first week of June.
Mr. Rao was addressing a meeting of the steering committee of Telangana joint action committee (JAC) here on Saturday. Targeting the TDP, he asked the JAC to give a call to the cadre of that party in Telangana to quit and join the TRS, BJP or the JAC itself. Already 7 to 8 lakh activists of TDP had joined the TRS.
The JAC should also vacate its office housed in the quarter of TDP MLA E. Dayakar Rao at the New MLA quarters here. Mr. Dayakar Rao often insulted the JAC publicly saying it worked from his accommodation.
Mr. Rao also took the JAC to task for deliberating on whether or not to attend the rally of another TDP leader Nagam Janardhan Reddy at Nagarkurnool recently. Mr. Reddy and Minister Jupalli Krishna Rao, both of whom claimed to champion the cause of Telangana, carried out “duplicate” activities which the JAC should not have considered.
He took a dig at JAC chairman M. Kodandaram's remark earlier that the Telangana agitation passed through a stalemate recently and said it was an irresponsible one. In this context, he said a movement did not mean that people should take to streets everyday.
Mr. Kodandaram said the targets of agitation by JAC after June 1 would be Congress leaders since they dilly dallied on separate Telangana for over a year.

Jagan launches fast for farmers

In limelight:YSR Congress Party president Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy at the ‘Rythu Deeksha' in Guntur on Sunday. To his left is Nellore MP Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy.

GUNTUR: YSR Congress Party president Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy began a 48-hour hunger strike “Rythu Deeksha” in support of distressed farmers at the sprawling ground near Agricultural Market Yard here amid large presence of YSR loyalists, party leaders and farmers.
Savouring the success of the by-polls, Mr. Jagan launched the fast in the presence of six Congress MLAs – Balineni Srinivasa Reddy (Ongole), Konda Surekha (Parkal), Pinnelli Ramakrishna Reddy (Macherla), M. Sucharita (Pratthipadu), G. Srikanth Reddy (Rayachoti) and B. Sivaprasad Reddy (Darsi) and TDP MLA N. Prasanna Kumar Reddy (Kovur). Congress MP from Nellore Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy also joined the protest. Party MLCs - Jupudi Prabhakar Rao, Pulla Padmavati and Desai Tippa Reddy were among the loyalists, who participated.
Disqualification notices served on rebel Congress MLAs did not deter his supporters from marking their attendance. Indications available suggest the number of MLAs joining the protest would go up by the time the MP-elect ends his fast on May 17.
Mr. Jaganmohan Reddy first paid floral tributes at his father's statue and greeted the crowd before taking his seat on the stage.
Though, Mr. Jaganmohan Reddy, who sat on an elevated dais surrounded by large number of his supporters, did not address the gathering, other leaders described his protest as an indication of his commitment and dedication to the cause of resolving problems of the farmers. They asserted that in fighting for people's problems, Mr. Jaganmohan Reddy was the only true inheritor of late YSR's legacy and none could dare to stake claim.
Speakers wondered why AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi was not taking up the cause of farmers in Congress-ruled States like Andhra Pradesh, where the farmers' plight was worsening because of the total failure of the government.
The party top brass however maintained that it was an event aimed at exerting pressure on the Central and State governments to not merely show concern for the plight of farmers' but to take concrete measures to alleviate their suffering.
Addressing the large gathering which comprised farmers and general public, Ms. Surekha said Mr. Jaganmohan Reddy's fast was not to rope in MLAs of other parties to his side but to highlight the grievances of farmers.
Among others, NTR TDP president N. Lakshmi Parvathi and former TTD Trust Board chairman B. Karunakar Reddy were present.