Jagan ika Jailukenaa!

Jagan chuttu ucchu bigusukundane antunnaru andaru! Jailu tappadani kooda antunnaru! It is alleged that Jagan Mohan Reddy has amassed huge illegal wealth in the name of 'Business' during the tenure of his father late YS Rajasekhar Reddy as the chief minister. Minister Shankar Rao and two others have filed a PIL in the High Court against Jagan alleging large scale corruption. On a directive of the court, the CBI registered a case and has started conducting raids on Jagan and his alleged associates' companies.   During its probe, the CBI dug out the truth that Jagan along with several associate companies have robbed the State to the tune of thousands of crores of rupees. In this process, the CBI registered a case under sections 13D, 13E, 120B, 409, 420, 477A and are tightening their noose. All these sections are non-bailable. Significantly, under sections 13D and 13E, if anybody who is in power and if he amasses wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income and fails to show relevant accounts, he is liable to be prosecuted and none of these sections are bailable.   According to political observers, the Congress high command seems to be bent upon putting an end to Jagan's much glorified political career. Definitely the CBI raids being conducted on the offices of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy will dent his image and demoralise his party. As in the case of Satyam Ramalinga Raju, who didn't get bail so far, Jagan too may face the same situation and won't be in a position to bounce back.
Publish Date: Aug 19, 2011 9:32PM

Retired Cop Among Probables For New DGP Post

It's quite quizzical to find a retired cop's name in the list of probables for new DGP post! The murky politics of Andhra Pradesh police has been making news for a long time, ever since the governments of the day started superseding officers and appointing police chiefs on criteria other than merit. The legal challenge by superseded cops have also been ignored by the government what with the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) which hears such petitions being rather slow to come up with their orders. However, this time the CAT not only quashed the posting of director general, but also asked the government to send a list of six senior cops to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). The new DGP will be selected from a panel of three to be selected by the UPSC from among these six names. So far so good, but the CAT has identified the six officers whose name has to be forwarded. This includes the name of a cop who retired a few months ago! It is not clear whether the inclusion of a superannuated cop is part of some legalistic interpretation by the CAT or a case of plain oversight. Many cops say that had it not been a tribunal headed by a retired justice of a high court, they would have smelt a deliberate attempt to scuttle the chances of a strong contender. By the inclusion of the retired cop's name, strong contender Dinesh Reddy's name has got pushed out. If retired cop Alok Srivastava's name was not included, Dinesh Reddy (being the next senior-most cop) would have been in the consideration list for the top post. So has a fair chance been denied to Dinesh Reddy?
Publish Date: May 2, 2011 8:20PM

Is Congress Still Shielding YSR Family?

Although the Congress high command is yet to take the final decision, a section of party leaders at the state level are intrigued with the proposal to field former MLA N Varadarajulu Reddy for the Kadapa Lok Sabha constituency and agriculture minister YS Vivenkananda Reddy for the Pulivendula assembly constituency in the bypolls on May 8. Chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and PCC president D Srinivas are expected to leave for Delhi soon to get the party's nod for these names. Sources say, it's being projected that everybody in the party felt Vivekananda was the right candidate to take on the YSR's widow and this unanimity has forced Viveka to agree to the proposal. It's even publicized that the proposal to leave Pulivendula uncontested is being opposed by many including the family members. Viveka's wife Soubhagyamma was quoted as saying that she would throw her hat into the ring if her husband backed out. And this is where the cynics in the state Congress are piqued, as YSR family is known for its integrity and cohesiveness. On the other hand, former MLA N Varadarajulu Reddy emerged as the front runner for the Kadapa Lok Sabha seat. Reddy, who represented Proddatur in the previous assembly, is being preferred to health minister D L Ravindra Reddy. The party is said to be reluctant in fielding the aggressive DL though he is considered in the area as a staunch opponent of YSR. The minister has been consistently raising the issue of wealth of the YSR family. Obviously, the YSR critics in the Congress see all these moves by the state congress leadership as going soft on YSR family.
Publish Date: Apr 2, 2011 3:10PM