In a rare decision, the Hyderabad Police have asked the controversial film critic Mahesh Kathi to leave the city immediately. The Task force police already made arrangements to shift the film critic and actor to his native village in Andhra Pradesh. He will be prohibited from entering the city until further orders.

Meanwhile, the police have also kept Paripurnananda Swami under house arrest in the early hours of Monday. Swami was supposed to launch a Padayatra from Uppal to Yadadri temple in a protest against the government’s failure in arresting Mahesh Kathi, who made controversial comments on Hindu religion and Lord Sri Rama recently.

A big contingent of Police forces was deployed at Swamiji’s residence in Jubilee Hills. Swamiji has been demanding the Andhra and Telangana Chief Ministers to take stern action against Mahesh. He has also alleged that the two CMs are showing soft corner towards Mahesh.

At the receiving end from all sections of society for his reprehensible remarks on the Ramayana and Lord Rama, Mahesh Kathi is now trying to project all and any criticism directed at him as criticism of the Dalit community.In short, he is trying to present himself as an icon of that community and hiding behind his caste as he is unable to answer the volley of comments directed at him.

In a video posted by Kathi online, he said he was peeved at the treatment of Dalits in Hinduism and said reforms in Hinduism were the need of the hour. Fine!But that does not give him the right to go on a public platform and speak about Lord Rama or Sitamma.

Realising that he had gone too far, Kathi is now trying to play the caste card and creating the impression that people who abuse him are abusing the Dalit community, which is not the case because many Dalit leaders have openly condemned Kathi Mahesh’s remarks.In resorting to these kinds of antics, Kathi is playing a dangerous game, a game which can easily spiral out of control unless wiser sense prevails in him.

ABN Radhakrishna in his editorial questioned the silence of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and Pawan Kalyan on the BJP’s affidavit in Supreme Court which said that all promises to AP had been fulfilled.While Chandrababu Naidu is getting ready to fight a legal war against the Centre on the affidavit, the silence of Jagan and Pawan gives strength to the allegation that they are mere tools in the hands of the BJP, said Radhakrishna.

Regarding the sincerity of Chandrababu and YS Jagan for the welfare of Andhra Pradesh, there is absolutely no doubt that YS Jagan is miles ahead of Chandrababu Naidu.When the T-agitation was at its peak, YS Jagan actually protested with a placard in his hand against bifurcation. Knowing fully well that such a move would affect his prospects in Telangana; he still stood for the cause of a united Andhra Pradesh.

Did Chandrababu ever speak out convincingly against bifurcation? In Telangana, he said ‘Jai Telangana’ and in Andhra Pradesh, he chanted the Samaikhyandhra mantra.Did Jagan Mohan Reddy give a letter in support of bifurcation? It was Chandrababu Naidu who did it!

What was the first reaction of Chandrababu when the bifurcation decision was announced? He did not condemn it, instead he asked for Rs 5 lakh crore for a new capital! He had made up his mind then itself to play on the sentiment of bifurcation and benefit from it materially.Is Chandrababu more intelligent than the Sivaramakrishnan committee which strongly advised against setting up the capital in Amaravati by destroying the green belt in the region?

What was the point in setting up the expert committee if he did not intend to follow its advice?It was merely a show for public consumption. Everyone knows that the Bifurcation Bill was passed in a most unconstitutional manner in Parliament by closing the doors of Parliament and stopping live coverage.Why did Chandrababu Naidu not fight a legal battle with the Centre against Bifurcation Bill? If you ask a man for a hundred rupees, will he give you two hundred?

When Arun Jaitley made fools of everyone by announcing a special package instead of SCS and said it would give more benefits than SCS, what was Chandrababu’s reaction?He welcomed the special package and responding to those who demanded nothing short of special status, said, “Special Category Status Emanna Sanjeevana? (Is Special Category, a Sanjeevini plant?”He further threatened to jail all those who were asking for SCS. Today, this very same gentleman has launched a ‘Dharma Deeksha’ for SCS. What a joke! What a colossal joke!

Radhakrishna says that Jagan might be silent because of the pending cases against him. Yes, but YS Jagan is not the kind of leader who will compromise beyond a certain point.Had he merely bowed his head to Sonia Gandhi, he would have easily been made a Central Minister or given a post of repute.Although he was well aware that going against Sonia Gandhi might be trouble for him, he never took a diplomatic stand but stood up for what he believed in and had to face imprisonment for 16 months.

As per norms, if the cases against a person are not proved within 3 months, then he is eligible for bail in three months but the Constitution was thrown to the winds in his case. But what does Chandrababu Naidu do when cases are filed against him? He went and fell at the feet of Chidambaram.For 16 months, Chandrababu and Congress kept YS Jagan away from the public and then they took the help of Modi and Pawan Kalyan and what was the ultimate percentage difference in votes? 2 %. Who do the Andhra people believe in, then?

It is absolutely clear therefore that YS Jagan is a leader who is more than willing to undergo personal hardships for what he believes in whereas Chandrababu Naidu is a rank opportunist who puts his and his community’s own interests above that of the people.Did not YS Jagan refuse to announce loan waiver because the State could not afford it whereas Chandrababu did and later ditched the farmers? Is this not sufficient proof enough?

And, speaking of corruption, has anyone observed that Chandrababu and his son Lokesh have stopped chanting the ‘Jagan looted 1.5 lakh crore mantra’ ever since Chandrababu was caught red-handed in the cash-for-vote case? A man who deserves to be in Central Jail is now speaking of Dharma Poratam.The people of Telangana have stripped Chandrababu bare in that State. It is time for the Andhras to do the same or else, it will be an endless ‘Cheekati Rajyam’ for the people of the State.

The proposal of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams to construct a temple in 10 acres of land at Phanirangini village of Araku mandal in Vizianagaram district has come in for sharp criticism from environmentalists and pro-tribal groups.Retired IAS officer from Visakhapatnam E A S Sarma, in a letter to the Andhra Pradesh government on Sunday, asked it not to approve the proposal of the TTD as it violates the spirit of the Constitution.

Sarma wondered whether the senior civil servants in the Government had not rendered proper advice to the State Cabinet that such decisions violate the Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act (PESA) and also the secular spirit that underlies the Constitution.In this context, he referred to the landmark judgement dated 8-4-2013 delivered by the Supreme Court of India in the case of bauxite mining by Vedanta company in Odisha.

“The apex court has clearly laid down the authority of the tribal Gram Sabhas in areas notified under the Fifth Schedule to the Constitution. No project can be initiated within the domain of a tribal Gram Sabha in a Scheduled Area without an adequate discussion on the same by the Gram Sabha and without its prior consent,” he pointed out.

Sarma opined that the State Cabinet had undoubtedly erred in taking a unilateral decision on allotment of land in favour of TTD for constructing a temple.“It has not only violated PESA but also committed contempt of the spirit underlying the apex court’s observations,” he stated, adding that the public lands anywhere, more particularly in Scheduled Areas, should be set apart for non-religious purposes.