In a big shock to TRS ahead of elections, TRS’ Khammam district president Bheg has resigned to the party. Bheg, who had contested from Khammam Parliament in 2014 elections, had lost in the polls. However, he has been made as the Industrial Development Corporation Chairman.

Bheg is said to be not convinced with the post. With growing importance to Tummala Nageswara Rao who defected to TRS from TDP and growing groupism in TRS, Bheg has been uspet and unhappy over not getting due recognition in the party. He is of the opinion that he is being ignored.

Amidst this, Bheg has decided to quit TRS. He would be joining Telugu Desam Party in the presence of Chandrababu Naidu. Bheg would be meeting Chandrababu on 28th December during his visit to Khammam. This is going to be an unexpected shock to TRS in this election season.

Earlier, its Chevella MP Konda Vishweshwar Reddy has resigned and joined Congress. While Congress leader Revanth Reddy and others are stating that two more MPs and one MLC is also planning to quit TRS, looks like more trouble is in offing for the Pink Party.

Telangana politics are now revolving around ‘farmhouse’. No speech of a leader from any party ends in Telangana without referring to ‘farmhouse’.

Thanks to KCR, the term ‘farmhouse’ has become very popular in Telangana. Farmhouses are not new to Telangana.

They exist since decades but they became popular only after KCR became Chief Minister of Telangana.

This is because KCR runs his government from his farmhouse as he spent most of his first term as CM in farmhouse. This gave scope for all Opposition parties to attack KCR as ‘farmhouse CM’.

If Chandrababu Naidu is famous for introducing ‘camp politics’ in India, it’s KCR who became synomous for ‘farmhouse politics’.

Anyways, both the CM’s of Telugu states has set a new trend in the country of running politics from camps and farmhouses.

In the ongoing Telangana Assembly elections, ‘farmhouse’ has become a buzz word. Opposition parties talking about farmhouse to take a dig at KCR could be understood.

But what surprises people is that even ruling TRS and even CM KCR are talking about farmhouse in their poll campaign.

In an election meeting recently, KCR said if TRS loses elections, he would lose nothing personally and will rest in his farmhouse but Telangana people and Telangana state will be the losers.

The Opposition parties too are concentrating on farmhouse to hit back at KCR.

Mahakutami candidates are campaigning that even if TRS wins, it would not make any difference as KCR as CM will be once again confined to his farmhouse and run the government.

“Victory or defeat, it doesn’t matter for KCR. If KCR wins, he will again run his government from farmhouse. If he loses, he will be again in his farmhouse to take rest. Why should people vote for KCR who anyway will be in his farmhouse,” campaigns Mahakutami candidates.

Looks, the farmhouse will continue to generate much more political heat in the coming days.

From April, the filing season for the H-1B applications, companies hiring foreigners to work in the US through this popular work visa route will have to pre-register electronically for the annual H-1B lottery, and then file ‘full-fledged applications’ (referred to as petitions) for the winners.

Currently, petitions have to be filed upfront, together with all supporting evidence, just for entry into the lottery.

The documentation is exhaustive, especially for employers, such as IT service companies, who place their H-1B employees at client sites.

The change will result in significant savings of administrative costs for the sponsoring companies (those hiring foreign employees).

The move has been approved by the US Office of Management and Budget (OMB), a unit of the US president’s executive office. A similar line of action had been proposed in 2011, but didn’t fructify.

Nevertheless, given the protectionist regime of Donald Trump’s administration, it is feared that the new rule will give more leeway to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which is the immigration arm of the US government, in deciding who can work in America.

Annually, only 65,000 H-1B visas are allotted under the regular cap (also known as general quota).

An additional 20,000 visas are allotted under the master’s cap. Sponsoring employees have to submit the applications in the first week of April and within days the quota is met owing to which a random lottery mechanism is adopted.

For the 2018-19 season, the United States agency received 1.9 lakh applications. Indians typically garner more than 60% of the H-1B visas.

Tech companies such as Cognizant, TCS, Infosys and Wipro are among the top hirers.

Hardik Pandya has been in the news lately for eyeing a comeback for the ODIs in Australia next month.

Pandya had been sidelined due to a back injury he suffered in September during an Asia Cup game against Pakistan.

That didn’t stop the allrounder for letting his hair down at the birthday of Sakshi Dhoni, his buddy and former captain MS Dhoni’s wife, last week.

Pandya was accompanied by singer Sophie Choudhry and is rumoured to be dating her — rather quietly.

For the record, in the last year alone, Pandya has been linked with three women — Elli Avram, Esha Gupta, and now Choudhury.

Telangana Rashtra Samithi president and caretaker chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao is known for his punchy dialogues while attacking his political opponents.

He does not mince words when he wants to attack someone in harshest language and they hit the opponents so straight that they cannot even give a proper retort.

For the last few days, KCR has been targeting his Andhra Pradesh counterpart and Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu, who joined hands with his main political rival Congress in the Telangana elections.

In the initial days of his campaign, KCR used strong words against Naidu, calling him “Rakshasudu” (demon), “Durgmargudu” (wicked), “Kapati” (Cunning) and “Neechudu” (mean fellow).

He, somehow, toned down his language later and confined himself to normal political criticism. But after the Friday’s public meeting of Sonia Gandhi, KCR once again went on rampage and started attacking the TDP president as usual in strongest words.

On Sunday, KCR called Naidu a “mental case,” while addressing a public meeting at Parigi. And he gave an explanation why the TDP chief is fit to be called so.

“Naidu says he has built Hyderabad. Then what had the Qutub Shahis done? Was Naidu born four hundred years ago like Qutb Shahis?” he said, referring to the Andhra Pradesh chief minister’s claim that he was instrumental in the development of Hyderabad and creation of Cyberabad.

“Quli Qutb Shah, who founded Hyderabad, would be turning in his grave if he could listen to what Naidu has to say now about the city,” KCR said.

He wondered why Naidu who had claimed to have built Hyderabad during his nine-year rule could not lay a single brick in Amaravati, the new capital city of AP, in the last four and a half years.

“Naidu has done nothing but creating computer generated graphics of Amaravati in these four years,” he said.

Giving another example of why Naidu could be called a “mental case,” the TRS president said during his tenure as the chief minister of the combined Andhra Pradesh, Naidu wanted officials to ban goats to protect forests.

“Goats and sheep are part of the eco system and they existed in this world even before Naidu. Who is first in the evolution? Goat or Naidu?” KCR asked.

He alleged that when he was part of the TDP, Naidu used to humiliate Telangana MLAs of the party.

“During ticket distribution as they were made to wait under hot sun at the NTR film studio at Nacharam.

“I was a young politician at that time and so, I didn’t dare question the discrimination. But when Naidu hiked power tariff and refused to accept my request, I didn’t hesitate any further and rest is history,” KCR said.

There is a saying that “enemy’s enemy is a friend.” But Power star and Jana Sena Party chief Pawan Kalyan seems to be of the view that enemy’s enemy is also an enemy.

This is evident from the way Pawan Kalyan has been targeting YSR Congress party president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy more than his prime enemy – Telugu Desam Party president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, in the last few days.

At his public meeting in Ravulapalem in East Godavari district, Pawan made very strong allegations against Jagan, saying that the latter was scared of raising the issues of people and the corruption of the rulers in the state assembly.

“The reason is simple: Jagan is afraid that if he questions the government on corruption, his own corruption would get exposed,” he alleged.

The Jana Sena chief further alleged that Jagan was not lagging behind in looting public money and indulging in various scams.

“The YSRC leaders were also involved in sand mafia and soil mafia. Both the TDP and YSRC leaders criticise one another outside, but they have a common agenda of looting the people. That is why Jagan is not daring to question the TDP on the scams,” he said.

Pawan went on to allege that Jagan was also facing CBI cases pertaining to financial irregularities running into thousands of crores.

“How can such a person dare question Narendra Modi or Chandrababu Naidu? He has miserably failed to play the role of an opposition party,” he criticised.

Political analysts wonder what Pawan is going to achieve by attacking Jagan so much.

“It would only help the TDP in the long run. If two enemies of a person fight with each other, it will naturally benefit him,” an analyst said.

However, there is a talk that Pawan has been attacking Jagan mostly in East and West Godavari districts, because he thinks it is Jagan and not Naidu, who is his prime enemy in these districts.

“Perhaps, he feels the Jana Sena would be able to win maximum number of seats in these two days only if he can reduce the impact of Jagan. If he can capture these two districts, he can dictate terms to the next government in the state,” another analyst said.

The tremendous success of the Seemandhra settlers’ meeting held at Kukatpalli on Saturday in support of Telangana Rashtra Samithi has sent panic waves among the Telugu Desam Party leaders and cadres.

Though YSRC has announced that it would stay away from contesting the assembly elections in Telangana, it has taken a plunge into action to discreetly help the TRS in attracting Seemandhra voters belonging settled large numbers in the Greater Hyderabad limits.

In fact, sources say it was the YSRC leaders who had taken the initiative for the meeting of Seemandhra settlers at Kukatpalli, which was attended by TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao’s son and IT minister K T Rama Rao.

The YSRC cadre in the name of Jaganna Sainkulu circulated the message through WhatsApp groups asking one another to mobilise the Seemandhras settlers to the meeting.

The message also pointed out that the TRS victory would help Jagan come to power in Andhra Pradesh in the next assembly elections there.

“So, we all have to come together and bury the Maha Kootami,” the message said.

And at the meeting, several YSRC leaders openly expressed their support to TRS and asked the people to defeat the TDP-Congress combine. They raised Jai Jagan slogans also at the meeting.

Following the meeting, the TDP leaders got alerted. Party president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu held a meeting with the party leaders to work out a counter-strategy.

While Naidu himself has decided to launch a campaign in Kukatpalli, he has also reportedly sent request messages to Junior NTR and Kalyanram to campaign for their sister Nandamuri Suhasini, the party candidate in Kukatpalli. She also reportedly requested her brothers to bail her out.

If everything works out, Junior NTR may dedicate some time for a couple of road shows in Kukatpalli to help Suhasini.

At the same time, Harikrishna’s brother and TDP MLA Nandamuri Balakrishna will also campaign for Suhasini, sources said.

Hyderabad: Congress President Rahul Gandhi and TDP leader and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu will share dais at their first public meeting at Khammam on Wednesday to campaign for “grand alliance” candidates in Telangana’s Assembly elections.

This is the first time two top leaders of the Congress and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) will be sharing the stage at an election rally since they agreed to work together to form an alliance of non-BJP parties at the national level.

In a dramatic shift of TDP’s stand towards Congress, Naidu met Rahul Gandhi this month and they agreed to bury the past and work together to unite opposition parties.

Congress party’s Telangana unit working President Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and TDP leader Nama Nageswara Rao on Monday visited the Government Degree College in Khammam where the ‘grand alliance’ public meeting will be held.

They said the public meeting will not only bolster the alliance’s campaign but will be significant for national politics. Vikramarka said the meeting would send a message to the whole country.

The Congress is leading the ‘grand alliance’ in Telangana which includes the TDP, Communist Party of India (CPI) and Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS).

TDP’s Telangana unit chief L. Ramna and leaders of CPI and TJS shared dais with UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi at a public meeting at Medchal near Hyderabad on Friday.

For the Khammam public meeting, the Congress has also invited CPI General Secretary S. Sudhakar Reddy and TJS leader M. Kodandaram.

Elections for 119-member Assembly are scheduled on December 7. The Congress has fielded candidates in 94 constituencies leaving the rest for its allies. TDP is contesting 13 seats.

Telangana Rashtra Samithi president and caretaker chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Sunday expressed surprise over the comments made by former Congress president and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi that she was very much anguished over the conditions in Telangana.

“I am really surprised. What is there for Sonia to feel so much about Telangana? Was she anguished over the improvement of financial situation in the state? Or reduction of suicides by handloom weavers? Or over speedy completion of irrigation projects? Or provision of round-the-clock power supply to farmers free of cost?” KCR asked while addressing a public meeting at Devarakadra.

The TRS president said Sonia must be worried that the Congress party had stopped getting funds from the state, as it used to get in the past.

“She was just reading out a script written by somebody else,” he said.

He wondered why Sonia had to make promises to the neighboring state while addressing the people of Telangana.

“Did she ever understand that her promises for special category status to Andhra Pradesh would affect the interests of industry in Telangana?” KCR asked.

The chief minister accused the Congress leaders of indulging in sale of party tickets.

“This is not my allegation, but the party candidates themselves are accusing their leaders of wrongdoing. They have accused TPCC chief of selling party tickets. They made voice recording of these events public,” he pointed out.

Telangana Rashtra Samithi president and chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had dissolved the state assembly nine months ahead of its actual term and went in for early elections in the state only to make his son K T Rama Rao as his successor.

This was alleged by Bharatiya Janata Party national president Amit Shah in his election speeches in different parts of Telangana – Parkal, Nirmal, Narayankhed and Dubbak on Sunday.

Shah reminded that the TRS president had supported the proposal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for one-nation-one-poll idea in the past. But now, he decided to go in for early elections in the state, causing huge burden on the state exchequer.

“Obviously, the Telangana chief minister thought the TRS would be swept away in the Narendra Modi wave, if there are simultaneous polls to the assembly and the Lok Sabha. He wants to overcome this problem by opting for early elections. In fact, it is an early election for KCR’s family members. He wanted to make his son or daughter as the next chief minister if his party comes to power again,” he said.

On KCR’s promise of making a Dalit as the chief minister of Telangana in 2014, Shah said the TRS chief had conveniently ignored his promise soon after coming to power. He wanted to know whether KCR would stick to his promise at least in 2018.

“Will he announce a Dalit as the CM candidate at least in 2018 or project his son?” he asked.

The BJP president said the Congress was fast losing power everywhere in the country and it cannot win even in Telangana, even if it joined hands with the other parties.

“The BJP is the only party that can provide a safe, stable and strong government,” he said.