Sleeping with the enemy

While Chief Minister K Rosaiah is finally enjoying a say in choosing men loyal to him for top jobs.

While Chief Minister K Rosaiah is finally enjoying a say in choosing men loyal to him for top jobs,he is having to continue with K V P Ramachandra Rao as advisor to the government. KVP,a confidant of late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy,is close to Y S Jaganmohan Reddy,whose defiant Odarpu Yatra has been troubling the Chief Minister. While Rosaiah and KVP respect each other,the CM is not very comfortable with the latter around,though off late Jaganmohan has been cold-shouldering KVP. Rosaiah has recently shown political muscle,including in the appointment of senior IPS officer K Aravinda Rao as Director General of Police bypassing four other senior officers vying for that post,but he is not likely to replace KVP in a hurry. Rosaiahs aides say that the CM does not want to send the wrong signals or antagonise the Jaganmohan camp in any way.

When the names YSR

Anticipating that Kadapa MP Y S Jaganmohan Reddy would launch a new party,and most likely call it YSR Congress,there was a clamour to get a party in that name registered before him. Several people tried to register YSR Congress or Congress YSR with themselves as founding presidents. While the State Election Commission SEC rejected several applications on various grounds,one person has finally succeeded. K Shiva Kumar,a resident of Nalgonda,got YSR Congress Party registered with himself as president. Kumar is not a politician and while he claims that he is a fan of late YSR,pro-Jaganmohan Congressmen have dismissed Kumar as a gold-digger,likely to trade the name,in return for favours,at the drop of a hat.

KCR soothes trade fears

After FICCI and CII officials expressed their concerns to Chief Minister K Rosaiah last week about uncertainty and the Telangana agitation affecting the investment climate in the state,especially Hyderabad,Telangana Rashtra Samiti TRS chief K Chandrasekhara Rao went into damage-control mode. He held a four-hour closed-door meeting with several industry representatives on Wednesday,where he not only projected himself as chief minister but also outlined his industry-friendly policy. He stressed that industry had nothing to fear should a new state be formed,that he would ensure stability. We have abundant natural resources and with political will,we will take development beyond Hyderabad and make Telangana an economic power, he declared.

Twinkle,twinkle jr stars

Tollywood,which produces more films than Bollywood,is in the throes of a star war,or rather star children war. Chiranjeevis son Ramcharan Tej and Nagarjunas son Nagachaitanya are the main contenders. Junior NTR,the grandson of N T Rama Rao who has done many films,is also a contestant. Ramcharan has a head start with runaway hit Magadheera receiving many awards while Nagachaitanya,who entered the industry only last September,has emerged as a heart throb. Nagachaitanya has also been roped in as the mascot of National Geographic channel in Telugu. Both Ramcharan and Nagchaitanya have won Filmfare best male debut award but the race is hotting up now with big releases of both expected soon.