Senior TDP leader and Kodangal MLA Revanth Reddy, who has been unabatedly waging a war against Telangana Chief Minister KCR and TRS government, has finally let the cat out of the bag. In an attempt to position himself as the CM contender from TDP, Revanth Reddy has spilled the beans, “I’ll be the CM of Telangana after 2019 elections.

It has been revealed in recently conducted survey. The survey stated that I’m the strongest leader of Telangana after Chenna Reddy and said I’ve fair chances to become CM. The survey said that TDP will get clear mandate in the elections as people are vexed with TRS and KCR.” However, Revanth didn’t reveal what survey it was and who conducted it. 

Revanth went on to took post shots against KCR. “KCR is incapable CM. In fact, Chandrababu Naidu has fairly reacted on the issues of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and did his best.” Revanth Reddy said TDP will do its best to help the bereaved families of farmers who gave up their lives unable to repay their debts. On behalf of Telangana TDP, Revanth Reddy announced Rs 50,000 each for the families of farmers.

During the Telangana agitation time, the TRS chief KCR grabbed the limelight and image. During that phase, even Vijayashanti also made some noise. But she could not gather that momentum so she joined hands with KCR. Now Telangana is formed, Vijayashanti has parted ways with KCR and TRS has become a formidable force. In order to develop as an alternate force in Telangana, only Congress is standing against KCR and TDP to an extent. 

But Congress is a national party and TDP is an Andhra party. Nobody is there on the local ground to stand opposite KCR. Sources say this is the right time Vijayashanthi is rethinking to make her re-entry with Thalli Telangana party. She wants to focus on pockets where anti-KCR feeling is there and cash on that sentiment. Bottomline is, public will vote only for development and welfare and not for sentiment anymore since the state has formed.

If people are disappointed with KCR they will look for alternative but they will not go by sentiment again. However, some say sentiment will not die, it will always be there. The political experts say Vijayashanti is doing the right thing if she re-launches Thalli Telangana and plan her moves carefully. Let us see what happens.

In what is considered one of the most cost-effective steps ever taken by any state government, the Government of Andhra Pradesh has come forward to use its “Big Data” in order to save its about-to-siphon-off treasure chest. The Tech Savvy Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu’s “Master Stroke” to correlate Aadhar data with the government schemes is going to regularize and streamline Public Distribution System (PDS). 

And wonder who is the man behind this innovative project, it’s none other than Lokesh. Nara Lokesh, coordinator of TDP workers’ welfare fund activities, who holds MBA degree from reputed Stanford, had first shared the idea with his dad Chandrababu who given his nod. It’s also learnt that Lokesh roped in people from Google, LinkedIn, Facebook to achieve this feat. It was first practised by father-son duo Chandrababu and Lokesh ahead of General Elections 2014 to estimate the mandate. But little did Lokesh know then that this would later help crore of public exchequer. 

Already Naidu-led government is reaping its benefits as it saved a whopping Rs 700 Crore public exchequer. By integrating Bio-metric data, issued by Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), with government services, AP government successfully eliminated several duplicate beneficiaries and minimised corruption in PDS sector. “The Aadhar data was used to wipe off duplicate entries saving Rs 700 Crore annually,” said an officer in the know. 

According to reports, the Big data analysis helped AP government to easily detect the major goof ups and irregularities. It played pivotal role in nabbing over 4000 men who were drawing Widow Pensions and were removed from the list with immediate affect. The enormous increase in white cards and bogus beneficiaries were alleged to have raised during the congress regime are now being fixed by TDP-led government with the support of Big Data. Thanks to Lokesh for saving Rs 700 Crore public money.

Hussain Sagar is one of the most recognized and probably one of the major surviving lakes of Hyderabad, which was once referred to as a city of lakes. Of course, over the years many have dried out or encroached upon, but Hussain Sagar has a different problem altogether. It is fully polluted and full of different types of waste that has been dumped into it over many decades. Especially, during the Ganesh immersion season, lots of idols made of plaster of Paris were dumped into it, till strict rules have been passed to shift to environment friendly materials.

Today, the commuters can smell the stench emanating from the lake and the water is highly polluted. The new government of Telangana has decided to drain the lake completely and clean the bed. In theory, the idea sounds manageable with the right resources and expertise. But never in history have such attempts been made to drain a lake as large as Hussain Sagar which is spread approximately over an area of 4.4 sq km, both in India and abroad. Some experts say that while small lakes have been cleared out in the past, draining out a lake of this size and then cleaning up the waste on the bed might be a humungous task.

Also, the pollutants piled up in Hussain Sagar could be highly toxic, they warn. Right now, it is being hotly debated as to whether the city can stand the stench emanating from the lake bed once it is drained. Similarly, removing bed soil and other pollutants and shifting them to another location maybe another big task. It is being roughly estimated that nearly 50,000 acres of land would be required to dump the polluted dug up from the 30 feet deep lake bed. So, the next question is, where will they find such a vast space? However, there are others who say that the task is achievable, providing there is clear-cut planning and equally clear line of execution with strict adherence to deadlines. 

To begin with, all the nalas being drained into Hussain Sagar need to be diverted and then the lake has to be drained. Then measures have to be taken to help the city people handle the stench till the bed is completely cleared. In the past, efforts were made to clean the lake. But none of them got the desired results. So, many experts feel that while the idea is laudable and necessary, it is equally important to have a water-tight plan in hand before starting the process to prevent any serious health hazards later.