Hyderabad Blues

Midnight Transfer

If it was the midnight announcement by home minister P. Chidambaram on Telangana on December 9, 2009 that changed the face of politics in Andhra Pradesh, the midnight transfer of IPS officer K. Sreenivas Reddy, an Additional Director of the Anti-Corruption Bureau, on April 5 has led to high drama in the state. Reddy, who was heading the liquor mafia probe, and his team, nabbed P. Balaraj Goud, a liquor syndicate leader. Within barely 24 hours, Reddy found himself promoted and transferred out as IG, Coastal Security. The orders were issued at midnight by Chief Secretary Pankaj Dwivedi. The transfer has raised a furore among opposition parties and civil society activists alike who brand the move as politically motivated. Signature campaigns, representations to the Chief Minister, press meets galore by the Telugu Desam and even an appeal in the High Court have sought to stop the transfer. Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy, however, has remained firm. Sreenivas Reddy’s transfer has been seen as a peace offering by Kiran Kumar to PCC president Botsa Satyanarayana whose family is rumoured to have major investments in the liquor business. Kiran Kumar and Botsa have been at loggerheads ever since the former pipped Botsa to the CM’s gaddi. With bypolls to 18 Assembly seats due soon and the Congress in absolute disarray, Botsa and Kiran were summoned to Delhi by Congress president Sonia Gandhi where the leaders were asked to play nice to each other. After the Delhi lesson, Botsa, on his part, played the unflappable politician. “Who is Sreenivas Reddy? I have never heard of him,” Botsa asked with a granite expression when quizzed about Sreenivas Reddy’s transfer.

Public Outcry

The bali ka bakra (scapegoat) IPS officer has received tremendous support from the common man, who for the first time witnessed tough action against liquor syndicates, which are bleeding the state’s coffers dry. Citizens have expressed astonishment about the manner in which the ACB official was shifted even as a chargesheet is due to be filed in High Court on April 16. Twitter and Facebook have been active with messages of support for Sreenivas Reddy whose persona is being compared to that of Amitabh Bachchan’s in Zanjeer. The public outcry over an IPS officer’s transfer is definitely a PR failure for the ruling Congress which needs all the support it can get now from voters.

The Heat is On

Raids and scams may come and go, but when the heat is on, people must have their beer. AP has topped in beer consumption in country in March as is seen from recent sales. Fifty five lakh cases of beer were sold in March alone which is the highest in the last few years in the country. Again, it is the ACB which is credited with the increased sales. Owing to the raids, dealers who were selling at inflated prices now strictly stick to the MRP (maximum retail price) rates. Whiskey, the next favoured drink in AP, has not registered any major rise in sales though. Or maybe the temperatures in the State which are currently hovering around 38-40 degrees Celsius have something to do with it.

Sympathy Card

Telugu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu kicked off his bypoll campaign in Tirupati by offering prayers to Lord Venkateswara in the temple town. Coming out, Naidu said he had sought the blessings of the Lord for a good government in the state as people “were fed up with the corrupt regime of the Congress”. Naidu also performed pujas in Alipiri, the place where he survived a claymore mine attack by Naxalites in October, 2003. Nearly eight years on, Naidu is still keen to play the sympathy card. A strange move, considering it did not work for him even in 2004, when he called for early elections hoping for a sympathy wave after the attack.

Riot After Riot

After two years, communal violence broke out in the Old City again on April 8 following the desecration of a place of worship. Riots raged in Madannapet, Saidabad and Champapet areas of the Old City and many people were injured in the clashes. Curfew was imposed as the Chief Minister took stock of the situation. The unrest in the Old City is closely followed by riots in Sangareddy recently. A political fallout of this is somewhat strained relations between the Majlis-e-Ittehadul-Muslimeen (MIM) and the Congress. After the Sangareddy violence, MIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi hit out at Congress MLA T Jayaprakash Reddy saying his role should also be investigated. Owaisi said the looting and violence in the Sangareddy riots was similar to that in Ahmedabad in 2002. The MIM’s anger may not be a good sign for the Congress because it represents the voice of many Muslim voters in Greater Hyderabad and several areas of Telangana.

Land Scams?

Lord Meghnad Desai, who was in Hyderabad recently to address a lecture at the Administrative Staff College of India, lambasted the policy of Special Economic Zones (SEZs). The economist said SEZs were a flop show as they had failed to provide facilities to local communities who’d given up their land for SEZs. Lord Desai delivered his usual line of SEZs being complete land scams and insisted that the centre ought to look at progressive rather than regressive subsidies. And what does Lord Desai feel ails the coalition UPA government? “The paralysis of caution as was evident from union finance minister’s latest Budget.”

Quid Pro Quo

While on SEZs, a politician who is caught amidst it all is Jaganmohan Reddy. The YSR government is accused to have given away land in SEZs to companies which invested in Jagan’s Sakshi group as quid pro quo. Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy has now asked party leaders to target both Jagan and the late YSR as a run-up to the bypolls in 18 Assembly seats. Minister for primary education S. Sailjanath has taken the initiative. He wonders how Jagan can talk about concern for the poor and moral values when he lives in a one lakh square foot house. Jagan’s palatial luxury bungalow near Lotus Pond, Banjara Hills, is unofficially valued around Rs 80 crore.