Normally it is thought that the Speaker of an Assembly is devoid from outside controversies, as his domain of administration gets limited to the assembly alone. But in case of Nadendla Manohar, the Speaker of AP Assembly, it is said that he is still active in his native district governance. Differences between the Speaker and excise minister Mopidevi Venkataramana pertaining to Tenali sub-collector Balaji Digambara Manjale have come to the fore recently.

The sub-collector Manjale, who was handpicked by Manohar, alleged that a minister from the district is spearheading a campaign to malign his image after he refused to oblige him. Sources said the minister was upset with the sub-collector ever since the latter turned down his request for taking back two fair-price shop dealers, who were suspended on the charges of malpractice. The suspended ration shop dealers later started circulating pamphlets, making serious allegations against the sub-collector that he was demanding bribes from them. Reacting to the pamphlet and some unnamed letters sent to the CM and others, the sub-collector said that he was being targeted for adhering to rules. "The minister asked me to reinstate the two fair-price dealers, after they were suspended on corruption charges," Manjale told.

Manjale, a 2009 batch IAS officer, is considered close to Manohar. Though it is an open secret that Manohar and Mopidevi do not get along well, their differences hit a new low when Manohar succeeded in getting Mopidevi's favourite official, revenue divisional officer Shaik Ismail out of Tenali 45 days ago. Manohar took the chance immediately after becoming the speaker and saw to it that Ismail was sent packing from his headquarters, much to the chagrin of Mopidevi. Sources said the minister had decided to take the issue to the notice of CM Kiran Kumar Reddy and seek the official's transfer.

 

Video Source: snehatv.com