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Sunday 30 May, 2010

A game of one-upmanship over Telangana

Desaraju Surya
HYDERABAD: It was a clear game of one-upmanship that disturbed peace in Andhra Pradesh once again.
Kadapa MP Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, Telangana Rashtra Samiti president K Chandrasekhar Rao, some Congress leaders hailing from Telangana region and also a few leaders of Telugu Desam Party were all players in this murky game.
The game began after Jagan announced his programme early this month to tour Warangal district as part of the “Odarpu Yatra” to condole the families whose members allegedly died either of heartbreak or committed suicide following the tragic death of his father Y S Rajasekhara Reddy in September last.
Jagan had already toured West Godavari and Khammam districts last month on a similar condolence trip and evoked good response from people. In fact, Khammam district is also part of Telangana region but Jagan did not face any opposition to his tour with only some murmurs of protest raised by the pro-Telangana groups.
Buoyed by this, the young MP announced his plan to tour Warangal district, which is the hotbed of separate Telangana agitation.
Fearing that the success of Jagan’s yatra could prove that the separate statehood demand is on the wane, Chandrasekhar Rao raised objection to it saying they would not allow a person who openly supported a unified Andhra Pradesh to tour Telangana.
Andhra Pradesh, particularly Telangana, remained peaceful since March this year after the violence that erupted in December over the separate statehood issue.
Separatist elements like KCR and Kodandaram – who are allegedly minting money in the name of the separate statehood “movement” – did not shun their inflammatory talk but people remained restrained.
Interestingly, leaders from Andhra and Rayalaseema said they would roll out a red-carpet for Chandrasekhar Rao if he visited their regions. “He is most welcome to not only visit any place in Andhra or Rayalaseema but also speak on his demand for a separate Telangana state. He is very much entitled to do this,” leaders from these regions said as the TRS chief planned to Vijayawada on the invitation of Jai Andhra Samiti.
However, other pro-Telangana groups vowed to block Jagan’s tour at any cost even as some Congress leaders from the region joined chorus.
Beginning with Rajya Sabha and Congress Central Working Committee member K Keshava Rao, 11 party MPs from Telangana lobbied with the ‘high command’ to get Jagan cancel his Odarpu Yatra.
The Kadapa MP, however, said his tour had nothing to do with the party and it was “purely personal.” “It is my duty to wipe the tears of the families which lost their kin following the death of my father. There is no politics involved in it,” Jagan asserted.
He pointed out that he never made any political remarks during his tour of Khammam district that was also part of Telangana.
Amidst this, Telugu Desam Party senior legislator from Warangal district E Dayakar Rao announced that they would not let Jagan land his foot in Warangal since his father YSR had done a lot of injustice to the district. “How can we allow him to tour the region when his father, as Chief Minister, did a lot of injustice to us on various issues? Moreover, why was not Jagan consoling the families whose kin died for the sake of a separate Telangana state,” Dayakar Rao questioned.
Soon, his party colleagues from Telangana region supported him even as TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu maintained that in a democracy every individual has a right to visit any place of his choice.
The controversy over Jagan’s tour notwithstanding, Chief Minister K Rosaiah repeatedly maintained that Jagan’s tour was “his personal affair” but the government would take adequate steps to maintain peace.
However, the Odarpu Yatra ended in an anti-climax on May 28 as Jagan was forced to abandon his plans after violence broke out in Mahbubabad, the yatra's starting point.

Tuesday 4 May, 2010

Arrest of a "corrupt" IAS officer in Andhra Pradesh

Desaraju Surya
Hyderabad: The arrest of Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer M Jaganmohan by sleuths of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in Hyderabad today in connection with a disproportionate assets case could be the beginning of more such cases to come soon.
The Andhra Pradesh government recently gave its go-ahead to the ACB to proceed against officers belonging to All India Services (IAS, Indian Police Service and Indian Forest Service) of the state cadre who have been facing charges of corruption.
The ACB made out cases of corruption, including possession of assets disproportionate to their legitimate sources of income, against 22 top-ranking officers. The list includes 15 officers belonging to IAS, IPS and IFS.
“In eight cases involving AIS officers, the government has accorded requisite permission for us to proceed ahead. We shall now focus on these cases,” a top official of ACB said. He, however, did not like to reveal the names of these officers as it could hamper the cases.
In fact, at a review meeting of the ACB last week, Chief Minister K Rosaiah reportedly directed its Director General K Aravinda Rao to trap the “big sharks” and not just the “small fish” so as to create a “fear” among the corrupt elements in the administration.
Sources in ACB said the raid on Jaganmohan, a 1999-batch IAS officer posted as Joint Collector-1 of Ranga Reddy district, was carried out after many complaints about his alleged involvement in illegal land deals were received by the Chief Minister’s Office. The ACB unearthed assets worth over Rs 20 crore in the raids carried out on his official residence, office chamber and other properties besides his relatives’ houses in Hyderabad today.
“This is probably the first such case against a serving IAS officer in recent memory. In April 2007, an IPS officer J G Murali was arrested in a disproportionate assets case when he was serving as Superintendent of Police, Visakhapatnam (Rural), with his wealth running into several crore rupees,” a senior ACB official recalled.
Though another officer Harshavardhan was also arrested in connection with a similar case in November last year, it happened a few months before he was inducted into the IAS. In his case, ACB unearthed assets worth over Rs 8 crore but he succeeded in getting into IAS through an order from the Central Administrative Tribunal.
Jaganmohan’s arrest has become a point of intense debate among IAS officers in the state today. “There are many other black sheep within our ranks. Jaganmohan’s arrest should at least become a deterrent for the corrupt officers in our ranks,” a senior IAS officer remarked.

A Brief about Jaganmohan's Case:

The Central Investigation Unit of the ACB raided the residence of M Jaganmohan, a 1999-batch IAS officer currently posted as Joint Collector-1 of Ranga Reddy district, and seized three kilograms of gold, Rs 15 lakh in cash and many property documents. Bank balances amounting to Rs 12 lakh and investments in life insurance policies, national savings and Kisan Vikas Patras amounting to Rs 15 lakh, household articles worth Rs four lakh and a car worth Rs seven lakh were also seized in the raid, according to ACB Joint Director Sampath Kumar.
In all nine special teams of ACB simultaneously raided the official residence of Jaganmohan on Road No. 13 Banjara Hills, his relatives house at Kundanbagh, his office chamber in the Ranga Reddy district Collectorate and other places, and seized documents related to his properties in Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam and Ranga Reddy district, sources in the ACB said.
The IAS officer also owned two houses in Hyderabad city, six flats in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam and eight house sites in Ranga Reddy district.
Some incriminating documents were also seized from his office chamber in the district Collectorate, ACB sources added.
Jaganmohan, an MSc., PhD and M Ed, joined state revenue service in December 1990 and was inducted into IAS in January 2005 and allotted the 1999 batch. His wife is a revenue divisional officer-cadre officer currently posted in the Urban Land Ceiling wing of the state revenue department.
He was hand-picked for the Ranga Reddy Joint Collector's post in February 2008 by an "advisor" to government allegedly to settle some land deals.