Look who's fighting

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So, the opposition decided to show no sense of humour over a late 1940s cartoon of the revered B R Ambedkar in NCERT textbooks. (Regardless of the fact the man himself, alive then, showed no angst and in all probability, laughed it away!) What followed the Parliament chaos was predictable, protests across the country, debates, apologies & resignations. (And it's us journos, who are accused of being thin-skinned!?!) Now, at the outset, let me make it clear, that we, in Andhra Pradesh, especially Hyderabad, have come to become very enthusiastic over national issues (Blame it on the Telangana reins being handled in Delhi!) So of course, there had to be some protests here as well. "Find out," ordered my assignment (sitting in Delhi, where else?!) While I punched numbers of "habitual protestors" (yes, they exist & no they haven't yet made it to my speed dial!), I met....

The Jagan jinx

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What's common between CBI's Andhra Pradesh chief VV Laxminarayana and YSR Congress chief Jagan Mohan Reddy? Both of them get very flustered when women reporters are jostled around in the crowds that surround them. Women reporters, including yours sincerely, appreciate the fact that one strong glare from both these men, helps in restoring the oxygen passage amidst that suffocating group of cops, security guards and fans! (FYI: This CBI director has a facebook fan page!) But that's where that small patch of common ground ends. For then, they are placed on opposite sides of law but fighting what seems to be a political battle. While the CBI director has been granted Y category security (reportedly under threat from the mining mafia), Jagan has found no such favour with the ruling Congress at the state and at the Centre. Jagan stands as accused no 1 in CBI's....

Can CBI connect the Jagan dots?

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With scams in the last few months regularly throwing up numbers of not less than a 100 crores, we as an alert audience have tuned in to the "not-surprised-anymore" mode. Or so I thought! When the Andhra Pradesh High Court decided on 10th of August to give a green signal to the CBI for a detailed investigation into YSR Congress MP, Jagan Mohan Reddy's assets, it did catch the state's attention. While politicians came up with their predictable rhetoric, it was amusing to see the man on the street to be equally interested. In fact, at most informal gatherings these days, Jagan & his money are the toast of the discussion. Dinner table conversations veer around how much will the CBI unearth? Is Jagan a victim of Congress witch-hunt, as he claims to be? And the question that's asked most in hushed tones is, will he be arrested,....

Drug trials, at whose cost?

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Five women hospitalised in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh, after "volunteering" for a drug trial. Now that's a story that we know will make headlines over a weekend. But each time a story such as this comes about, it brings to my mind that unending debate of ethics in such clinical trials. No, I'm not going into the technicalities of the greater good, the need of medicine etc. instead this is just to finally confront a few nagging thoughts that come up each time I cover a story on illegal clinical trials. The first time I came across a death due to a clinical trial was in Dec 2008, when a young 24-year-old lad died under suspicious circumstances. Investigations revealed, he had volunteered for several drug studies, all at the same time, thus leading to an untimely death. While the several Pharma companies were quick....

A 'hand'ful of the 'rising sun'

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A huge laminated poster of Andhra Pradesh's favourite megastar Chiranjeevi stares back at me from the corner of a friend's room. The friend, also now a disappointed fan, took it off the wall of his room after Chiranjeevi officially announced his party's merger with the congress. And my friend says he is not a one-off case... with reports of many a staunch supporters of Prajarajyam, from various districts of Andhra Pradesh, feeling a sense of betrayal. And can they really be blamed? For a party that promised a non-Congress, non-TDP (AP's main opposition party, Telugu Desam) alternative to the state's voters in 2008, amidst a gathering that ran into lacs in the temple town of Tirupati; for a party that said it will fight against corrupt forces of Congress & TDP for social justice.. Prajarajyam failed to meet the high standards it set for itself. ....

Live by the sword, and die by it

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A faction leader, prime accused in his arch rival's murder & out on conditional bail pays a visit to his lawyer's office. With his usual trusted driver on leave for the day, he chooses to travel with his close aides M & B. While M takes the wheel, B sits behind the co-driver, in this case, our protagonist "Suri". Minutes later, B steps out of the car and walks away. M looks on, dazed at the increasing pool of blood near the gear lever... blood oozing from the bullet wounds on the body of his "Anna". Dramatic?? Filmy?? But this isn't a 70mm screenplay; it is an incident that happened right on the crowded streets of Hyderabad city. For those who follow politics in India, they'd know Andhra Pradesh as one of the most politically-charged states of the country. And political power coups have been....

Poll-pourri from Telangana

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Elections are always welcome. No, I'm not talking on behalf of the aam janta here, but yes there are some people who are very happy with elections. The belt shop owners, for instance, in the poll regions wear wide grins on all the days running up to the polls with liquor sales hitting an all-time high. It's election time in 12 constituencies of the Telangana region in Andhra Pradesh. More than 2,000 people have been arrested in liquor cases, 4000 belt shops closed and cash worth 2.19 crores seized..& these are just the official figures. For once, it isn't the bulky politician counting his bucks, but the poor farmer/weaver a la voter who is weighed, in some fanatic instances quite literally, in money. After much dramatic political developments in the last few months, including a fast-unto-death by Telangana Rashtra Samiti Chief (TRS) K Chandrashekhar Rao, violent....

All in one day: Burning tyres, empty tanks, deserted roads

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"BHARAT BANDH," say politicos. "KHULJA SIM SIM," says the Aam Aadmi "Are the petrol pump stations open today?" asks my frantic dad as he braced himself for traffic congestion & political dharnas en route his office on the day of Bharat Bandh. " Maybe they are open. But not all of them though," I cautioned. "First, the govt hikes petrol beyond our budget & then the Opposition takes it away altogether," he muttered driving away. Well that was to be just the first of the several complaints I would hear through the day. While some people reiterated the need of letting the govt know of your disapproval, there were others who sighed at the futility of all the inconvenience. As we waited for Andhra Pradesh's opposition leader & Telugu Desam Chief Chandrababu Naidu to arrive & court arrest, his party supporters decided to charge....

Laila's thunder

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Winds at a speed of 125 kmph, flooding of low-lying areas, immense damage to life and property expected and state administration on high alert. Tracking the story every hour, the journo in me was awaiting "the" call from headquarters, the one that'd fix my date with the lady of the moment... Laila! And then it came... "Let's move ASAP", words from my boss that got me all excited... finally, I get to meet her! If you may be wondering why exactly was I all charged for this assignment, well, to be honest there were three reasons. One: I was very impressed with Laila's power; my entire state admin was on its toes in hours. Senior babus placed in each of the 9 coastal districts, control rooms set up, the Army sounded out, evacuation shelters put up. Now whoever could have such an effect on my otherwise lax....

And so the Congress list was announced

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And so the Congress list was finally announced. The recent hustle bustle at Gandhi Bhavan, the Congress center here in Hyderabad, immediately subsided. Some couldn't believe their luck. The disgruntled ones, denied a ticket, packed their bags and left for their respective constituencies to participate in the "team" effort of bringing the Congress back to power in Andhra Pradesh. A few days before the list was announced, the AICC General Secretary, Veerappa Moily, came to town to have a closed door meeting with the Andhra Pradesh Congess Committee President D Srinivas and the Chief Minister YSR Reddy( better known as the DS-YS duo). While I was trying to get a reaction from Mr Moily on his coalition with Mamata didi in the east, I made my way - rather stealthily - to his hotel room...only to be confronted by dozens of ticket aspirants, each with a bouquet of flowers....