Telugu Desam Party emerges stronger in GHMC

Desaraju Surya
Hyderabad: The ruling Congress party suffered a huge set back even as the principal opposition Telugu Desam Party made a strong come back in the elections to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation. The Congress that hoped to win 100 out of the 150 seats in GHMC, ended up with a tally of just 52 – far away from the half-way mark – while the TDP bagged 45. The Majlis Ittehadul-e-Muslimeen retained its hold in the Muslim-dominated localities in the city, including the Old City, by winning 43 seats. The BJP, which desperately tried to regain lost glory in the city, was left badly bruised and managed only five seats. Actor Chiranjeevi’s Praja Rajyam Party was decimated and with great difficulty opened its tally with a solitary win. The Lok Satta Party that came up with the slogan of “Governance at your doorstep” was fully routed. It drew a blank. Interestingly, two Congress “rebels” won from Bholakpur and Charlapalli divisions. They were among the four independents who made it to the GHMC in its maiden elections. Counting of votes, in the election held on November 23, was taken up today.
The final tally read thus: Congress-52; TDP-45; MIM-43; BJP-5; PRP-1 and Others-4.
The low turnout in the election left its impact on the fortunes of all parties. Though it was expected that the low turnout could indeed prove beneficial to the ruling party, the final analysis revealed otherwise as the Congress could not come even close to the half-way mark. Prior to the election the Congress projected a tally of 100 seats for itself but reduced it to 80-85 at the end of the polling. The end result has certainly come as a shocker to the ruling party leaders who banked heavily on the “development” agenda as well as the sympathy caused by the death of former Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy. With 14 MLAs and three Lok Sabha members representing the Greater Hyderabad region, the Congress should have done well but the principal opposition TDP – which had only one MLA – dealt a telling blow to the former. Interestingly, the Congress’ trump card YS Jaganmohan Reddy failed to work any wonders as the party candidates lost in most of the civic divisions where he campaigned. Even in Assembly constituencies that were considered the strongholds of the Congress, the TDP made inroads by bagging majority of seats. In Maheshwaram constituency, represented by Home Minister P Sabita Indra Reddy, the TDP clinched both the civic wards while in LB Nagar constituency the TDP won seven out of the eight wards. In Kukatpally Assembly segment, represented by Lok Satta Party president N Jayaprakash Narayan, the TDP won five divisions and the Congress one. In the ultimate analysis, the TDP has emerged as the biggest beneficiary in the GHMC polls.

"I stopped for him, not you."

Desaraju Surya
Vijayawada: I was standing by the road.
Rahul Gandhi suddenly stopped his Tata Safari in front of me and got down.
I tried to rush towards him saying, "Mr Rahul", to pose a question.
"I didn't stop for you. I stopped for him," he replied rather angrily, pointing to a dwarf person, even as TV cameramen and photographers rushed and tried to mob Rahul.
It took some time for me to understand that Rahul was actually trying to keep the paparazzi at bay and not me. He didn’t like the media glare.
This happened in Vijayawada yesterday, where I went to cover Rahul’s visit to the city for an interaction with students of Loyola and some other colleges.
As he started his drive back to the airport after taking part in an interaction session with students at the Loyola College here, Rahul suddenly stopped his Tata Safari on the road outside the college auditorium and stepped out of the vehicle.
It was a totally unexpected halt as everyone, except the select audience, was kept completely out of bounds of Rahul’s programme. As anxious media photographers and television cameramen saw Rahul stepping out of the vehicle, they tried to seize the opportunity and rushed to mob him.
“I have not stopped for you. I have stopped for him,” Rahul told the journalists in a rather angry tone, as he pointed to a dwarf standing by the road.
Rahul tried to walk up to the dwarf person but failed because of the melee caused by the cameramen.
Even as the security personnel accompanying him tried to control the scene, Rahul silently got back into his Tata Safari. National Students Union of India president I B Eden, who too got down of the vehicle with Rahul, suffered a minor bruise on his forehead as a camera mike hit him.
Rahul noticed this and enquired about it with Eden. After Eden got into the car, the convoy started moving.
But then, not to leave the admiring dwarf disappointed, Rahul asked his security personnel to collect the paper that the former was holding. It was done accordingly.
Later, the dwarf identified himself as A Nagaraju of Rompicharla in neighbouring Guntur district.
“I had met Rahul on a previous occasion in Hyderabad and explained my plight. I sought some help from him. He promised to take care,” Nagaraju recalled.
What did he ask for? “Given my physical condition, none is coming forward to marry me. Even if someone is ready for marriage, they are seeking money from me. So, I asked Rahul for Rs one lakh,” Nagaraju said.
“Also, I am unable to do any work because of my condition and hence want financial help. But the over-active media spoiled my chance to interact with Rahul,” he cursed.

The Hyderabad JINX for Team India

DESARAJU SURYA
Hyderabad: As Australian wicket-keeper Graham Manou broke the stumps to run Praveen Kumar out in a nail-biting fifth One-day International, Team India failed to break the “Hyderabad jinx” yet again.
M S Dhoni’s team came close to erasing the “jinxed” tag attached to the Hyderabad International Cricket Stadium but fell short by a mere three runs in one of the most spectacular contests.
Now, the Hyderabad International Cricket Stadium played host to three One-day Internationals in which the home teams always ended up a loser.
After Sachin Tendulkar set the stadium on fire with his stupendous batting display, I thought India would not lose the match and set a new trend for the the Uppal stadium. Alas, it didn't happen!
What’s Hyderabad jinx?
“The faulty vaasthu of the stadium itself,” says noted vaasthu exponent Danturi Pandarinath.
Like any other stadium, the Hyderabad cricket ground too has ‘pluses and minuses.’
“But the minuses, especially in relation to vaasthu, here are more. These minuses are turning into pluses for the visitors rather than the hosts,” Pandarinath pointed out.
Inaugurated in 2004, the Uppal stadium played host to the first One-day International between India and South Africa on November 15, 2005. India, batting first, made 249, aided by Yuvraj Singh’s century. But South Africa comfortably romped home making 252. The second match here was played between India and Australia on October 5, 2007. The visiting Kangaroos made 290 on a belter of a track and then bowled out the hosts for 243.
And now, India came close to chasing a mammoth 350 runs notched up by Australia but faltered despite a stupendous 175 by the Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar.
It’s not just the Indian team that has been consistently losing at this venue. Being the “home team,” Deccan Chargers too could not escape the drubbing as it lost all the seven encounters during the IPL-1 season.
“The main flaw, as per vaasthu, lies in the stadium’s compound wall. It is squarer at some places and shapeless at others. Besides, the swimming pool attached to the stadium is at the wrong place – south-west corner – whereas it should be either on the north or the east,” Pandarinath, who is also an ardent ‘Indian fan’, pointed out.
Even the home team’s dressing room was found to be having certain flaws which were also affecting the prospects.
Hyderabad Cricket Association authorities say the Deccan Chargers management got the stadium examined for vaasthu compliance prior to the Champions League T20 matches recently.
In fact, Pandarinath himself volunteered to inspect the stadium’s vaasthu as he was perturbed over the failure of “home teams” that played cricket matches here.
“On the western end of the stadium, there is a hill which is a plus. Similarly, the north-east portion is also on a higher plane which is another plus,” Pandarinath told the HCA authorities.
He suggested that the HCA make necessary modifications so that at least in future cricket lovers will not have to see their favourites ending up on the wrong side.
HCA acting secretary Chalapati said more than the HCA, the Deccan Chargers management was keen on the vaasthu compliance aspect. “Accordingly, they made some changes ahead of the Champions League T20 matches recently,” he said.
With the “Hyderabad jinx” becoming the talking point after the India-Australia encounter, cricket lovers hope the HCA -- which pockets crores of rupees after each International match -- will shell out a few lakh rupees to carry out necessary modifications and help the home teams break the jinx.