The real spice of the week is the official declaration of young hero Allu Arjun that he is going to get married to his engineer-friend Sneha Reddy, daughter of a private engineering college owner, very soon. His father and mega producer Allu Aravind had to spend a lot of time with the media, sharing the thoughts about Bunny’s marriage, though there were reports initially that he was not very much interested in the alliance. And let us watch out for more spicy stuff from the Allu family, much more than the spicy food at his wedding reception.
As regards other stories of the week, tension is gradually mounting on the people of Telangana, as the deadline for submission of the report by the Justice B N Srikrishna Committee on the Telangana statehood issue is fast approaching. And the last week had seen some tense moments in the region, as the pro-Telangana organizations sought to disturb the Andhra Pradesh formation day celebrations on November 1.
The Telangana leaders wondered why the state government was celebrating the formation day at a time when the Srikrishna Committee is going to decide on the bifurcation of the state. “It is like celebrating the marriage day, at a time when the couple has applied for divorce,” Telangana JAC leader Prof M Kodandaram said.
And the Osmania University students, championing the Telangana cause created all sorts of ruckus to stall the celebrations. Declaring it as a Telangana Betryal Day, they stormed the residences of the ruling party leaders, hoisted black flags on all the public and private buildings in protest, made a vain bid to attack the convoy of Chief Minister K Rosaiah, fought a pitched battle with the police who thwarted their plan to take out a rally from OU to Assembly, faced lathicharges and arrests. The Telangana Rashtra Samithi activists attacked the residence of Information Minister J Geetha Reddy at Marredpally and Sanathnagar MLA M Shashidhar Reddy at Tarnaka; blocked the national highway on the Andhra-Telangana border and courted arrest. Though the celebrations took place amidst tight security, the Telangana issue once again was back to the fore.
Tension also mounts in the camp of chief minister K Rosaiah, as his position in the hot seat is said to be precarious. Amidst the reports from New Delhi that he might be replaced in a month of two, Rosaiah is growing frustrated day by day. The way he shouted at his ministers and described them as characterless, for leaking the news from the cabinet room to the media, shows how insecure he is feeling. For his unsavoury comments, he had to receive a lot of brickbats from his detractors within the party and in the opposition.
And the humiliation meted to Rosaiah and the Congress leaders from the state at the one-day AICC meeting held in New Delhi was also like rubbing salt on the wounds. Rosaiah himself could not get proper seat at the AICC meeting, while not a single member from the state got an opportunity to speak. There was no photograph of former prime minister P V Narasimha Rao on the dais, while all other ex-PMs of the Congress could get a place.
The camp of Kadapa MP Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, who is not seeing eye to eye with the Congress high command, has lost no time in criticizing the party leadership for insulting the state Congress, which had sent maximum number of MPs to the UPA kitty and also not paying homage to former chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy who had contributed a lot in the formation of the UPA government. Jagan loyalists Mekapati Rammohan Reddy and Ambati Rambabu had in fact demanded an unconditional apology from the AICC for ignoring YSR.
That the Congress party in the state is in a chaotic condition was once again proved this week, with the goofs-up in the appointments of youth Congress committees at the state, district and mandal levels. The “talent hunt” concept introduced by AICC general secretary and in-charge of national Youth Congress affairs Rahul Gandhi, turned out to be farce, as many of those who made it to the list were only followers of Jagan and the interviews were just an eyewash. Following complaints from several MPs and ministers, Rahul Gandhi had to cancel the appointments ultimately.
The week-end saw the conclusion of the month-long marathon Odarpu Yatra of Jaganmohan Reddy with a massive public meeting at Nellore. He will take a break for a week or two and then resume the yatra in Rayalaseema. The initial euphoria in the media over his meetings has gradually come down, except the reports that he is still drawing huge crowds wherever he had gone.
And interstinglym, Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu too took out “Odarpu Yatra” in his own way. He went around different parts of Ranga Reddy district to call on the victims of micro finance institutions and pay them financial assistance; but he had to face stiff resistance from the pro-Telangana groups, particularly, the TRS cadres everywhere. In a way, the yatra projected Naidu in a bad light.
As regards news from the Praja Rajyam Party camp, its president K Chiranjeevi, who lost his weight to look slimmer, made an announcement that his 150th film will go to the sets in February. He, however, he would not neglect politics, but would dedicate 20 days in a month to politics.
