Political Diary

Andhra Pradesh Panchayatraj Minister B Satyanarayana today promised to transfer powers to Panchayat Raj Institutions (PRIs) as stipulated by the 73rd amendment to the Constitution.

Addressing his maiden press conference after assuming charge, Mr Satyanarayana said he would hold a meeting of all those concerned to look into all issues connected with the transfer of 29 subjects from the State Government to Rural Local Bodies, besides devolution of funds for their independent functioning.

The State Government had already passed orders for transfer of 11 subjects to local bodies, he pointed out.Maintaining the promises made in the poll manifesto were ’sacred’ for the ruling Congress, he said steps would be initiated to make Scheduled Tribe hamlets into ’’Gram panchayats’’ as promised in the election manifesto.

The State Government would provide all support to the local bodies for providing basic amenities, including pucca roads and safe drinking water.

The Lok Satta Party (LSP) today said it would restructure the party as part of its ’Project 2014’,with a view to come to power in Andhra Pradesh.

Addressing a press conference here, party President Jayaprakash Narayan said the restructuring would reflect the changed ground realities.

The LSP had generated tremendous enthusiasm and support for the party in sections like the elite, middle classes, youth and women in the 2009 elections, he said, adding the party, however, could not translate the support into votes because of organisational and resource constraints.

At a three-day session, the party had reviewed its strengths and weaknesses and decided to restructure itself by overhauling membership criteria and co-opting people with integrity and leadership qualities, he added.

Anand Sharma was named on Thursday as trade minister in the new government, a key post with responsibility for negotiating the country’s stand at the Doha round of global trade talks.

A government statement said Murli Deora had been reappointed oil minister, and Kamal Nath, trade minister in the previous government, would become minister for road transport and highways.

Sharma, who was the junior foreign minister in the previous government and has his roots in youth politics, has little experience of economic portfolios and is likely to toe the line set by his reformist boss, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Sharma is an articulate speaker and defended a controversial nuclear deal with the United States in parliament last year.India is a leading negotiator for emerging nations in the struggling Doha round of talks, and its efforts to protect poor farmers have been one of the stumbling blocks to an agreement.

Sharma is unlikely to soften India’s pro-farmer stand at the talks but could be flexible in giving market access in other sectors, analysts said.

While the global financial crisis may have made market reforms unfashionable, it is the ruling Congress party itself that may prove a bigger obstacle to deep change.

Congress won the election not only because of four years of rapid growth but also because of a pro-farm policy that may make it difficult for the government to make a radical shift in its position at the Doha talks.

India expects the next round of negotiations at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to start in January or February 2010.The appointment of Kamal Nath, who is seen as pro-business, as road transport and highways minister signals the government’s intention to speed up the implementation of infrastructure projects which had slowed under the previous government.

She made these announcements after assuming charge amid a huge crowd of admirers in the J block of the Secretariat. The low-profile, soft-spoken science graduate from Koukuntla village in Ranga Reddy district, Ms. Sabitha (46) was given a red carpet welcome by her followers from Maheswaram Assembly constituency. As she took charge, priests chanted Vedic hymns and performed pooja. A. K. Khan, Additional DGP (Law & Order), and other senior officers were present.

Ms. Sabitha thanked Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy for choosing a woman for the first time to be his Home Minister, and said “this is an honour to all women in the country, and to me in particular”. She said the inspiration to set up a helpline came from a woman of Srikakulam, one of the several hundred people, who called up on telephone to compliment her.

The helpline would respond to all complaints of domestic violence, eve-teasing and atrocities. She would make efforts to increase strength of women in police force through a separate recruitment if possible.

This decision was taken in view of instances of exploitation of labour by contractors, who retained the workers with meagre amounts after giving loans to them.

While N Balakrishna and Jr NTR, who were both star campaigners during the elections, gave the pep talk and advised party leadership to infuse young blood into the party, president N Chandrababu Naidu announced that the entire state committees stand dissolved with immediate effect and that the party would go in for organisational elections soon.

Jr NTR once again proved to be the star speaker and did not mince words in expressing his feelings about the future course of the party. Asking party workers not to get demoralised, he said victory and defeat in polls was a common thing.

“Abraham Lincoln lost elections many times before he became the US president. Nelson Mandela had to spend several years in jail before he could come to power. To serve the people it is not necessary that one should be in power.

We don’t need mine owners or big contractors to serve the people. Dedicated and sincere workers and leaders by their hard work can win the confidence of the people just as Mahatma Gandhi became the father of the nation,’’ he said.

Balakrishna called upon the cadre to continue to work for the party’s ideals and programmes. He said though the party failed to come to power, it did pretty well and increased the number of seats in the assembly. There are several reasons for the party not being able to come to power, he said.

Later during a chat with media, he said he was willing to contest from anywhere and enter the assembly if the party feels so. Reacting to this, Gudivada MLA Kodali Nani offered to quit in favour of Balakrishna but he turned down the offer.

The deal was clinched by chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy at an emergency meeting with various officials concerned held in New Delhi on May 24, when both the Centre and the state were immersed in ministry formation. The NTPC-BHEL Power Projects Private Ltd (NBPPPL) will be the first PSU in the state in the last 27 years after the Vizag Steel Plant, which was commissioned in 1982.

It will also be the first PSU in the Rayalaseema region to which the chief minister belongs.

Set to come up in Mannavaram village in Chittoor district, the foundation stone for the plant will be laid next month, Busi Sam Bob, principal secretary, industries, told TOI. “The plant will manufacture power equipment for coal-based thermal power stations up to 1000 MW including super critical, hydro-based power stations and gas-based units, besides matching generators, boilers etc,” Sam Bob said. In fact, the unit will make all equipment related to power projects in India and abroad and the first batch will be ready for shipment by 2014, he added.

Officials present at the New Delhi meeting on May 24 included Union power secretary H S Brahma and Union industry secretary Satyanarayana Dash, besides the top brass of NTPC and BHEL. According to sources, while in the midst of finalising the state cabinet with Congress president Sonia Gandhi, YSR managed to convene the emergency meeting on Sunday afternoon.

The manufacturing unit would require 700 acres of land for the plant and another 250 acres for the township. The NBPPPL was set up by NTPC and BHEL with 50:50 per cent equity last year with a proposed initial investment of Rs 6,000 crore for the Chittoor plant. According to Sam Bob, the unit will provide direct employment to 6,000 people along with an indirect employment to about 25,000 to 30,000 people.

With at least seven states including Tamil Nadu vying for the PSU, clinching the deal can be considered a feather in the cap of the chief minister, especially when it came just at a time when both the governments at the Centre and the state were taking over.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy personally requested Mr. Reddy to take charge of the non-profit organisation, popularly called “108 ambulance”, following which its governing body elected him chairperson.

"Mr. G.V.K. Reddy, while accepting the invitation, stated that his wish in life is to do the best and be second to none. He believes in team work and wants the name and fame of EMRI to be strengthened further," said a statement issued by the organisation.

Former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam was previously its chairman emeritus but had quit some months ago.The organisation has some 12,000 people working for it to man the ambulance service that helps people in medical, fire and police emergencies as soon as they are approached by dialling 108 - in many ways India’s 911.

Mr. Reddy - whose diversified business house has interests in power, roads, infrastructure, services and manufacturing - has promised to contribute 5 percent of the organisation’s costs.

The bulk of its expenditure is borne by the Andhra Pradesh government for the state under a memorandum of understanding signed last year. The institution has similar pacts with the respective governments of 10 other states.

The organisation was founded by B. Ramalinga Raju, who had quit as chairman Jan 6, the day he also resigned from the top post at Satyam Computer Services after confessing to a massive accounting fraud in the IT bellwether.

Chief Minister Mr. Rajasekhara Reddy had reviewed the functioning of EMRI recently and asked its officials to make its working transparent like the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund and the Rajiv Arogyasri, a community health insurance scheme.

He also asked EMRI officials to create a new website so that the activities of its 108 services can be uploaded every day, and suggested information on every trip that the ambulances make should be uploaded on the website.

Mr. Raju and his family members had contributed Rs.34 crore to EMRI in 2005. With interest, it became Rs.370 million (Rs.37 crore) and was spent toward its operational costs for the next two years.

The actor has been trying to catch up with his shooting schedules which got neglected due to his extensive campaigning to attract fresh voters across the state. The actor is busy with his next big-budget film "Puli", directed by S J Surya.

According to some of the party leaders, the absence of the Prajarajyam youth wing chief, who was seen as the only firebrand leader in the party, at the meetings was proving to be a dampener.

Though several special invitees were called to the extended three-day political affairs committee meeting last week, the absence of the Yuvarajyam chief at the party’s re-structuring meet left tongues wagging. "Pavan Kalyan is the only PRP leader who dared to show his fingers at corrupt Congress leaders and take an open stand against the ruling party.

Since he has been staying aloof from party activities after the second phase of polling, several youth who plunged into active politics were looking towards the Yuvarajyam leader for further directions," said a senior PRP leader who did not want to be identified.

The last meeting, though unofficial, was chaired by the Yuvarajyam chief to discuss arrangements for the the Praja Vijayabheri two months ago.

A Yuvarajyam activist said, "We feel orphaned after not being made party to any kind of re-structuring process. Me and my Yuvarajyam members have decided to seek an audience with party president K Chiranjeevi and share our views to make a strong comeback in the local body elections, which are scheduled over the next 12 months. At present, we do not have a direction and we all strongly feel that Yuvarajyam alone can end up justifying its role as a catalyst for the growth of Prajarajyam."

When asked for a clarification from Yuvarajyam general secretary D Shravan on the absence of their president from party activities, he said, "We are being guided by Pavan Kalyan at all levels. He is keen to spreassd the message of ideological re-engineering as he is a firm believer in idealism and not populism. He will very soon reach out to the youth across the state with a firm resolve to bring about a real social change."

In a statement here, he said ’’the new Cabinet has people from various sections of the society and different areas of Andhra Pradesh. We are sure the induction of new faces in the Cabinet would bring more innovative ideas and ensure effective functioning of Andhra Pradesh. At the same time, the guidance of senior Ministers would help the new Ministers in planning,

designing and effective implementation.’’ He assured the FAPCCI’s ’’wholehearted cooperation and assistance in furthering the development of the State, especially trade and industry’’.

Speaking at another forum, Mr Agarwal said India’s exports in the last five years had diversified and grown, but there was substantial scope to enhance its exports further by identifying new markets and new products.

Addressing participants at an export certificate course here, he said, ’’today Indian exporters are exporting to almost all the countries, including places like Marshall Islands, Greenland, Barbados, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Burundi and Somalia.

However, there is substantial scope to enhance India’s exports further by identifying new markets and new products.’’ As a step in this direction, the Federation was bringing out an useful publication titled ’Andhra Pradesh Exporters Directory’,

which would help overseas buyers explore the market potential of Andhra Pradesh, he said, adding the Federation would organise a series of certificate courses on various issues beneficial to trade and industry.

Talking to media after assuming charge as State Finance Minister for the second term, he said the people had accepted the developmental and welfare schemes launched by the Congress government during the last five years and voted the congress to power again as they had full confidence in the government.

He said despite financial crunch due to lack of expected revenues, and cut in the central allocations to the state, the government would not hesitate to spend any amount on the welfare schemes besides giving priority to irrigation, infrastructure building, communication and industrialisation for employment potential.

Asked if there was any proposal to impose taxes in the budget, he did not give a direct reply, stating that the government would submit full budget after a thorough study before September this year.

He said there was time till September as he had earlier presented the vote on account budget.

The country and the state did not face big trouble in the wake of meltdown all over the world due to the efforts made by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, prominent economists like Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahulwalia,

the first woman home minister of the state.Sabita, 46, replaced K. Jana Reddy, who was among four senior ministers dropped by Rajasekhara Reddy while constituting the new cabinet for his second successive term as chief minister. Sabita, who was elected from Maheswaram assembly constituency in Ranga Reddy district in last month’s election, was minister for mines and geology in the previous cabinet.

A third-time legislator, Sabita is the widow of P. Indra Reddy, who served as home minister in N.T. Rama Rao’s cabinet. Her appointment is significant since the chief minister looks on her as a younger sister. YSR also launches all programmes, including election campaigns, from Chevella, the constituency earlier represented by Sabita. He considers the place lucky for him as it was a 1,500 km long ’padyatra’ launched from here in 2003 that catapulted him to power the next year.

He chose to launch his campaign for 2009 polls from the same town and became the first Congress chief minister in three decades to retain power. YSR made no major changes in the portfolios of his other senior cabinet colleagues. Senior Congress leader K. Rosaiah will continue to hold the finance portfolio.

Dharmana Prasad Rao and Ponnala Lakshmaiah will also continue as revenue and major irrigation ministers respectively. Geeta Reddy, who was minister for major industries in the previous cabinet, has been entrusted with the portfolio of information and tourism.

K. Venkat Reddy, one of the 20 new faces in the cabinet, is the minister for information technology. Mohammed Ahmedullah, the lone Muslim in the cabinet, will be the minister for minority welfare. The chief minister has kept with himself the two key portfolios of energy and excise.

A member of the Legislative Council, Rosaiah began his political career in 1968 and got elected to the Upper House. A native of Vemugu in Guntur district, he graduated from the Hindu College affiliated to the Andhra University.

He has handled key ministries of Finance, Legislative Affairs, Power, Home, among other ministries and had served as Minister under several Chief Ministers in the past, including M Channa Reddy, T Anjaiah, K Vijayabhaskara Reddy, and N Janardhan Reddy.

Ponnala Laksmaiah: Sixtyfive-year-old Lakshmaiah is an engineering graduate from US, has handled the key Major Irrigation department since 2004 and put into action the irrigation initiative ’’Jalayagnam’’ of the previous Rajasekhara Reddy

Government.

He has also served as Minister for a brief period in 1991-92.

Kanna Lakshminarayana: Hailing from a political family of the Pedakurapadu in Guntur district, 52-year-old Congress leader

was elected to the State Assembly for the fifth term, in the just-concluded election from Guntur(West) Assembly constituency.

He served as Transport Minister in the previous Cabinet. N Raghuveera Reddy: A Lieutenant of Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy hails from Neelakantapuram in Madakasira mandal of Anantapur district. He has put into action pro-peasant policies of the Rajasekhara Reddy Government since 2004.

Dharmana Prasada Rao: A native of Mabagam in Srikakulam district, the 52-year-old Congress leader began his political career as a Sarpanch. Responsible for implementing the Congress Government’s land distribution policy, he was lone Congress candidate to get elected from the district in 1999 when the TDP retained power. He has served as Minister in the past in the Governments headed by Kotla Vijayabhaskara Reddy and N Janardhan Reddy.

The Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, is doing a tricky balancing act, juggling between experienced hands and newcomers and working out caste combinations in his new cabinet which will be sworn in at 6 pm on Monday.

Dr Reddy, accompanied by his friend and MP, Dr K.V.P. Ramachandra Rao, left for Delhi for the fourth time in a week to get the Congress president, Mrs Sonia Gandhi’s approval for the list of ministers. Before he meets Mrs Gandhi at noon on Sunday, Dr Reddy will meet Mr Veerappa Moily, the party’s AP incharge.

Mr Moily, who was who was sworn-in as Union minister on Friday, added to Dr Reddy’s problems by suggesting on Friday that he should include Mr D. Srinivas in his team. Mr Srinivas lost his own election but led the Congress to victory in the state.

Sources said Dr Reddy did not comment on Mr Moily’s idea and left it to Mrs Gandhi to decide. Dr Reddy initially intended to form a 25- to 30-strong ministry, taking in both young and experienced MLAs. Dr Reddy may not take back all the 18 outgoing ministers — the G-18 — in light of the new realities in the districts they represent.

The Congress Party feels that giving a chance to some of the former ministers who have lost in the recent elections would be like opening a pandora box. As many as 14 ministers have lost in 2009 polls.

According to sources, defeated ministers may not find place in the State Cabinet. However, there is scope for inclusion of some of them particularly those hailing from Telangana region in the next expansion expected to take place after two years.

``Rajasekhara Reddy is not ready to take his former colleagues (defeated ministers) into the Cabinet immediately. Persons like T Jeevan Reddy, G Chinna Reddy and former Assembly Speaker KR Suresh Reddy may be taken into the Cabinet after getting them elected in the next Council elections (to take place in another two years),’’ sources said.

After waiting for two days in the national capital, Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy finally got Madam Sonia Gandhi’s approval for the list of ministers in his cabinet and returned to Hyderabad.

According to the list, there will be 35 ministers in the YSR cabinet, which includes 20 new faces. They are: Pasupuleti Balaraju (Vizag), P Vishawarup (East Godavari), P Satyanarayana and Vatti Vasanth Kumar (West Godavari), Parthasarathy (Krishna), Gade Venkat Reddy, D Manikya Vara Prasad (Guntur), B Srinivasa Reddy (Prakasam), R Venkat Reddy (Khammam), Sunitha Lakshma Reddy (Medak), Sudershan Reddy (Nizamabad), P Ramachandra Reddy (Chittoor), Shila Mohan Reddy (Kurnool), Ahmedulla (Kadapa), D K Aruna, J Krishna Rao (Mahbubnagar), Danam Nagender (Hyderabad), Konda Surekha (Warangal), D Sridhar Babu (Karimnagar) and K Venkat Reddy (Nalgonda).

Of them, only Gade Venkat Reddy held the ministry in the erstwhile Congress regimes and all the others are fresh faces. So, it is a good opportunity to the new comers to prove themselves!