Political Diary

Legislative Assembly Speaker N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Thursday imposed restrictions on all live transmissions from the premises, except for the live telecast of the House proceedings.
Addressing the media, a day before the start of the budget session, the Speaker said several regulations were put in place for the budget session by limiting visitors and media personnel on the premises in the wake of a renewed security measure.
Stating that regulatory measures were inevitable for the smooth conduct of proceedings, the Speaker said several legislators had complained to him on their restricted movement in the Assembly premises due to the massive presence of electronic media personnel at the entrance. "We have restricted all videographers and photographers to the newly created media point on the Assembly premises," he said.
Reddy said regulations were imposed on media after referring the matter to the advisory committees on security and media, which recommended streamlining the number of media personnel and visitors to the Assembly. "Henceforth, all visitors to the Assembly and the Council would be issued photo ID cards", the Speaker said and added that passes to media personnel were also cut down to 375 against the earlier number of 1,100. He asked all media personnel to extend their best co-operation for the smooth functioning of the Assembly.
The Speaker also urged all members, including ministers to use the media point to reach out to the general public. "The chief minister has already assured that he would not receive any delegation or petitions when the House is in session. I too have requested all ministers to avoid holding review meetings when the session is in progress. Similarly, I request all TV channels which record press meets, personal views or other programmes, on the premises while the House is in session, to air it only after the House is adjourned for the day," he said.
Responding to a query, the Speaker said that people have a right to know what their representatives are doing in the Assembly. "We have made arrangements for nearly 80 channels for telecasting the proceedings," he said.

Finance minister K Rosaiah would present a tax-free budget in the 13th Legislative Assembly here on Friday. Despite being cash-strapped, the government is unlikely to levy any new taxes but will disappoint all departments as their allocations would be much less than what they had demanded.
The budget size is likely to be Rs 98,000 crore of which Rs 41,000 will be planned expenditure and Rs 63,252 under non-plan expenditure. The deficit is likely to be over Rs 14,000 crore. Irrigation would continue to get the lion’s share of the budget which is expected to be around Rs 16,000-Rs 18,000 crore followed by other flagship projects like housing and pension scheme

The Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, is not amenable to the suggestion to states by the Union petroleum minister, Mr Murli Deora, to reduce sales tax on petrol and diesel to lessen the burden on the common man.
Mr Deora revealed in the Rajya Sabha that his ministry had asked all the Chief Ministers and the empowered committee of state finance ministers to rationalise sales tax on petrol and diesel to protect people from the impact of rising international oil prices.
However, sources close to the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister said it was not possible either to reduce or rationalise the sales tax being imposed by the state government since it was facing a serious fund crunch.
“Everyone knows that the state’s financial situation is precarious and that it is dependent on the Centre’s grants,” said the source. He further said: “But the Centre is not ready to bear any additional expenditure and is constantly asking us to improve our resources. At the same time, it also asks us to reduce the sales tax on petroleum products.”
The source added that there was nothing new in the minister’s suggestion.“He makes this suggestion whenever the Centre increases the prices on petroleum products. But we have to think of our revenue deficits,” he said.
The finance minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, said any decision on Mr Deora’s suggestion would have to be taken by the state Cabinet. “I cannot unilaterally react to this,” he said. Meanwhile, Mr Deora said in the Rajya Sabha that public sector oil firms will suffer revenue loss of Rs 2,880 crore during July despite the hike in prices of fuel.

A day after senior Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) Leader T Devender Goud called on CPI(M) Andhra Pradesh Secretary B V Raghavulu to foster ties among Opposition parties, both the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and PRP ruled out any tie up for the coming civic polls in the state Capital.
Addressing a press conference here, senior TDP leader and former Union Minister K Yerran Naidu made it clear that there would not be any alliance with the PRP for the coming civic polls’’.Meanwhile, PRP President Chiranjeevi told reporters that he was perplexed by reports that both the TDP and PRP were exploring possibilities of an alliance.
No TDP leader has met with any PRP leader in this regard, he added.
’’We have held talks with Left party leaders’’, he said, adding ’’We are presently on the job of selecting candidates. If any proposal for ties comes from like-minded parties, PRP leaders will sit down and take a collective decision.’’ The party will come out with its first list of candidates for the coming Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation elections in a couple of days, he added.
It may be noted that Mr Raghavulu had stated that his party was trying to bring together opposition parties including the TDP, PRP and Lok Satta to defeat the ruling Congress in the civic polls.

Ridiculing Telugu Desam chief N Chandrababu Naidu for taking credit for the Supreme Court’s notice to the Maharashtra Government on the Babhali irrigation project construction, Major Irrigation Minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah said today that Naidu had no moral right to do so.
“Naidu had made no attempt to stop the then Karnataka government from constructing the Almatti project during his tenure. He is taking the credit in the present instance only to gain political mileage.’’ Speaking to reporters here today, Lakshmaiah said that Naidu had ignored farmers during his nine-year rule but was shamelessly taking credit for their prosperity which was achieved during the Congress rule in the past five years.
Moreover, Naidu had been criticising the State Government at the top of his voice in regard to the irrigation projects in the State but was appropriating credit for the efforts of the YSR Government to stall the illegal construction of Babhali by Maharashtra, he said.
The minister said that the development-oriented State Government proposed construction of Palar reservoir in Kuppam constituency though its was being represented by Naidu.
In contrast, the TDP chief had failed to address the water problems of the people of his constituency, Lakshmaiah charged.The major irrigation minister criticised the TDP for organising a meeting on Babhali even after participating in the all-party meeting organised by the Communist Party of India on the same issue.
The TDP did not seem to attach importance to the CPIs ponsored meeting,he quipped

TRS rebel leaders on Tuesday threatened to occupy party head office - Telangana Bhavan, if party chief K Chandrashekhar Rao fails to answer 15 questions posed by them last month. The questions include, the ownership of Telangana Bhavan, role of KCR's family members in giving tickets to candidates in the general elections and reasons for not convening the state executive meeting after the poll debacle. The rebel leaders J Balakrishna Reddy, M Somi Reddy and K K Mahender Reddy held a meeting at the house of M Rahman Khan and served an ultimatum on KCR to respond to their queries within a week or they would occupy Telangana Bhavan. They threatened to launch a campaign against KCR highlighting his politics of deceit during the elections in Telangana region. Meanwhile, Greater Hyderabad TRS women's wing president S Srilatha Yadav along with her supporters joined the rebel group.

Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) chief Chiranjeevi on Wednesday ruled out any truck with Telugu Desam Party for the forthcoming elections to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC). "We have not yet taken any decision on alliances for the GHMC polls. But there will not be any tie-up with the principal Opposition TDP," Chiranjeevi said. "Right now we are concentrating only on selection of party candidates for the GHMC elections. We will release the list of contesting candidates in the next two days," he said. "If any party, other than TDP, comes up with a proposal for alliance, we will discuss it internally and take an appropriate decision," Chiranjeevi added, indicating that he was not averse to a tie-up with the Left parties. CPI and CPM were part of the Grand Alliance headed by TDP in the recent general elections. Telangana Rashtra Samiti was the fourth partner in the Grand Alliance. The TDP has decided not to have any truck with the TRS for the GHMC elections but no formal announcement has been made in this regard.

“Rising prices of essential commodities have made our lives very difficult in the city. How can we subsist with our low incomes,” an old woman asked while explaining her plight to former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu. The TDP chief heard similar views from a cross-section of people during the second day of his election campaign in the city on Tuesday.
Naidu toured Musheerabad, Malakpet, Amberpet Assembly constituencies and held several street-corner meetings which attracted sizeable crowds.He interacted with citizens at several places especially Bholakpur, inquired about their lifestyle and incomes.
He also inquired about local development works, all the time comparing them with those during his regime. Though it rained several times, Naidu’s meetings went on. As expected, the TD president criticised the Congress rule on various issues. Naidu said that ‘Bhagyanagar’ had become a major tourist destination during his government’s nine-year tenure.
But the current government had ignored development completely and the city had lost its place on world tourist map now. Congress leaders were ‘busy’ with land-grabbing activities. Therefore, welfare and developmental works had ground to a halt. “If people vote for the Congress in the GHMC elections, the prices of essential commodities will rise to unexpected levels,” Naidu warned.
He also urged people to defeat the MIM and the communal BJP in the elections as both were ignoring people’s issues.

TRS rebel leaders on Tuesday threatened to occupy party head office - Telangana Bhavan, if party chief K Chandrashekhar Rao fails to answer 15 questions posed by them last month.
The questions include, the ownership of Telangana Bhavan, role of KCR’s family members in giving tickets to candidates in the general elections and reasons for not convening the state executive meeting after the poll debacle.
The rebel leaders J Balakrishna Reddy, M Somi Reddy and K K Mahender Reddy held a meeting at the house of M Rahman Khan and served an ultimatum on KCR to respond to their queries within a week or they would occupy Telangana Bhavan. They threatened to launch a campaign against KCR highlighting his politics of deceit during the elections in Telangana region.
Meanwhile, Greater Hyderabad TRS women’s wing president S Srilatha Yadav along with her supporters joined the rebel group.

Andhra Pradesh police on Monday arrested a legislator belonging to the main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) on charges of molesting female students from Kerala at the nursing college run by him.
A three-member team from the Crime Investigation Department (CID) of the state police arrested T.V. Rama Rao in Kovvur in the coastal district of West Godavari.The arrest was made two weeks after five female students of TVR College of Nursing in Nidadavolu town in West Godavari district complained to the state home minister and state human rights commission that Rama Rao tried to molest them.
Earlier on June 18, Nidadavolu police had booked the legislator for rape and murder of a student. However, the police could not make any progress in the case as it failed to find any evidence of the offence. The legislator had denied the charges and claimed that it was a conspiracy by his political rivals.
The case took a dramatic turn on June 4 when five students from Kerala appeared before state home minister P. Sabita Indra Reddy to complain that the legislator made a rape attempt. They later recorded their statements before CID, which is probing the case.
The girls also complained to the state governor and the human rights commission. The commission had also sought a report from West Godavari district police, which found Rama Rao guilty of molestation.The case took a political overtone after TDP chief N. Chandrababu Naidu accused the Congress government of implicating the legislator in false cases.
Rama Rao and his family members also started an indefinite fast early this month to demand withdrawal of the case.

Praja Rajyam will contest all the 150 divisions in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) in the ensuing elections.
Announcing this at a press conference here today, PRP president Chiranjeevi said the party was ready to ally with the Left parties, if they come forward for an electoral pact. The PRP would have no truck with Telugu Desam and its relations with the TDP was limited to public issues. ``The PRP is ready to work with the TDP on burning issues like the price rise,’’ he said.
On the Babli dam issue, he said the Congress Government should exert pressure on the Centre to force the Maharashtra Government to stop the project works immediately. If the project was completed, the northern Telangana would be dry, he said, urging the State Government to take the opposition parties into confidence in exerting pressure on the Centre to get the dam works stopped.
Answering a question about DMK’s objection to the allotment of `Rising Sun’ symbol to the PRP by the Election Commission, he said there was nothing wrong in allotting the symbol of one regional party to another regional party of a different State.
The `Cycle’ symbol was allotted to the TDP in Andhra Pradesh and to Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh. He, however, hastened to add that it was a matter between the DMK and Election Commission.
The PRP MLA set up a core committee with seven local leaders to solve people’s problems in his Tirupati Assembly constituency. Each member would act as a coordinator between people and a particular department.The members include Ooka Vijayakumar (Revenue), P Mallikharjun (Police). S Subbaramaiah (TTD), Mabbu Sekhar Reddy (Panchayat Raj), Narasimhachari (Municipal Corporation), C Sarvottam (Hospitals) and Social Welfare and Hostels (Ashok Samrat Yadav).
Addressing Chiranjeevi Seva Dal activists later, the PRP president said it was unfortunate that no State Congress leader figured in the list of new governors appointed by the Centre.
Though it was an internal matter of the Congress, I was unhappy to note that no one from the State Congress was chosen for the gubernatorial post despite having several seasoned leaders like M Satyanarayana Rao, who rendered valuable services to the party and to the people, he said.

The main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) today urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to immediately take steps to stop Maharashtra from fixing gates at the Babli project across river Godavari.
Addressing a press conference here, senior TDP leader E Dayakar Rao alleged that the upper riparian state was going ahead with fixing the gates for the project allegedly in violation of the Supreme court order.At least now, Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy should immediately take up the matter with Dr Singh and ensure that Maharashtra comply with the apex court orders, he added.
The Congress Government had been in ’deep slumber’ for the last five years, allowing Maharashtra to construct Babli and 11 other barrages on a war-footing, he charged, adding as many 15 lakh acres in the districts of Nizamabad, Karimnagar, Warangal, Adilabad and Nalgonda would turn barren.
It was the TDP which brought to limelight the alleged ’’illegal’’ projects by visiting the projects sites in Maharashtra, braving lathicharge and arrests, he added.

Telugu Desam Party, the main opposition in the assembly, is gearing up for an offensive during the month-long budget session beginning July 24, indicating that there would be a lot of fire works.
The party will hold talks with other opposition parties for floor coordination on issues like steep increase in the prices of red gram (toor dal), rice, frequent power cuts, poor rainfall, failure to stop Karnataka and Maharashtra from constructing illegal projects on Krishna and Godavari. It is also gathering information about illegal constructions on Tungabhadra river.
The party also proposes to raise the issue of the harassment of party MLA from Kovur T V Rama Rao against whom a CID inquiry has been ordered following allegations of sexual harassment of students in the nursing college owned by him at Nidadavole.
Party president N Chandrababu Naidu has asked the party MLAs and the research wing of the party to gather full information with necessary photos and statistics on all important issues to put the government on the mat.
The TDP leaders feel that when the issue of rising prices comes up, the chief minister and other Congress members would surely try to make snide remarks and suggest the retail chain owned by Naidu’s wife should sell the goods at cheaper rate to help the common man. The party leaders say that if the government tries to indulge in such tactics, they would respond in a befitting manner. "It is Reddy’s style to hit back at the retail chain, Heritage Fresh, owned by Naidu’s family members, they said.
Talking to TOI, a senior leader said charity should begin at home and YSR should ask his son and daughter who own power projects in a neighbouring state to run the units at 80 percent plant load factor and supply the entire power to the state power utilities at generation cost so that the gap between demand and supply which is over 500 MW a day could be brought down to a great extent.
Asked if that would mean that there would fire works resulting in pandemonium, TDP leaders said that they would raise the issues as per rules and strive for perfect floor coordination. It is for the government to respond and ensure that proper discussion takes place. TDP, he said, was not interested in creating ruckus in the House but the responsibility to conduct the business smoothly lies with the government, he added.

Andhra Pradesh police on Monday arrested a legislator belonging to the main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) on charges of molesting female students from Kerala at the nursing college run by him.
A three-member team from the Crime Investigation Department (CID) of the state police arrested T.V. Rama Rao in Kovvur in the coastal district of West Godavari.The arrest was made two weeks after five female students of TVR College of Nursing in Nidadavolu town in West Godavari district complained to the state home minister and state human rights commission that Rama Rao tried to molest them.
Earlier on June 18, Nidadavolu police had booked the legislator for rape and murder of a student. However, the police could not make any progress in the case as it failed to find any evidence of the offence. The legislator had denied the charges and claimed that it was a conspiracy by his political rivals.
The case took a dramatic turn on June 4 when five students from Kerala appeared before state home minister P. Sabita Indra Reddy to complain that the legislator made a rape attempt. They later recorded their statements before CID, which is probing the case.
The girls also complained to the state governor and the human rights commission. The commission had also sought a report from West Godavari district police, which found Rama Rao guilty of molestation.The case took a political overtone after TDP chief N. Chandrababu Naidu accused the Congress government of implicating the legislator in false cases.
Rama Rao and his family members also started an indefinite fast early this month to demand withdrawal of the case.