YSR Congress party president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy on Friday made it clear to the special CBI court in Hyderabad that he had nothing to with the interview given by former chief secretary P Ramakanth Reddy to Sakshi television channel.

Jagan’s advocates submitted a counter-affidavit to the court on the CBI’s petition seeking cancellation of bail given to him in the alleged illegal assets case. The court posted the case to April 21.

In his counter-affidavit, Jagan said Sakshi had conducted the interview as part of its professional duty.

“All that Ramakanth Reddy had stated was in response to various questions asked by the correspondent. In what way am I concerned with the interview? How can it be construed that I had tried to influence the witnesses?” Jagan asked.

The CBI had argued that Sakshi belonged to Jagan and it had deliberately carried the interview with Ramakanth Reddy, who made several comments against the CBI and its investigation. It was obvious that Jagan tried to influence the witnesses with the interview, the CBI said.

YSR Congress has condemned the remarks of TDP MPs J C Diwakar Reddy and Avanti Srinivas who spoke without any decorum or decency on the office of the President.

“Our leader Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy has met the President Pranab Mukherjee and submitted a representation to intervene in the undemocratic manner in which four defectors were inducted into the cabinet by Chandrababu Naidu.

But the MPs were speaking low about the President saying ‘what can he (President) do other than only offering coffee.’ It is highly condemnable and does not go well in a parliamentary democracy,” party senior leader Botsa Satyanarayana told reporters here on Friday.

“We have to respect the institution of the President and cannot dub if people start pass such derogatory remarks it is blot on democracy, he said adding that the Save Democracy campaign taking up by the Party has been a success.

It is shame on their part to tell that berths were given to defectors as there are no proper persons within TDP ranks, though it is the prerogative of the Chief Minister, the objection lies in picking up turncoats against whom cases are pending with the Speaker for disqualification for crossing over, he said.

“Chandrababu Naidu has been using every forum to criticize YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and even the birth anniversary of Babu Jagjivan Ram was used for it. This streak comes out of the fear of our leader’s popularity,” he said.

TIRUPATI: Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), which manages the Lord Venkateswara shrine here, earned Rs. 1,038 crore through cash offerings from devotees in 2016-17.

TTD Executive Officer D Sambasiva Rao today said 2.68 crore devotees visited the shrine during the financial year.

He said a total of 10.46 crore laddoos, the sweet given as ‘prasdadam’, were sold in this duration.

The TTD in February approved a Rs. 2,858 crore annual budget for 2017-18.

The cash offerings by devotees at the temple ‘hundi’ was projected at Rs. 1,110 crore while interest on investments in various nationalised banks was estimated to fetch Rs. 807.7 crore.

The TTD expects Rs. 100 crore from the sale of hair offered by devotees, who get their heads tonsured.

The sale of Rs. 300 special entry ‘darshan’ is expected to fetch a minimum of Rs. 256 crore during the financial year.

The laddoo sale is expected to fetch Rs. 165 crore.

Balladeer Gaddar, who is synonymous to Maoist ideology and revolutionary writer during the intensified Maoist movement, had finally bid adieu to Naxalism. He declared at a public meeting quitting CPI Maoist party with which he associated for more than 25 years. From now onwards, he will embrace AMBEDKAR and Phoole ideologyand serve the poor.

Gaddar was the face of naxal movement in the United Andhra Pradesh during early 1990s. He propagated Maoist ideology through his revolutionary songs and writings among youth and waged a war against the then governments on exploitation of downtrodden communities and injustice meted out to destitute.

He also faced life threats from the governments. He was survived by deadly attack from his rivals twenty years ago.

Gaddar said that his new task is to fight against ‘Dorala Telangana’ and bring in social Telanagana. He will extensively tour Telangana and ascertain the plights of people under KCR rule. He will also visit other parts of South India to study people’s problems soon.

Following reports that Telangana TDP Working President and TDP MLA Revanth Reddy would soon quit TDP and join BJP, Revanth has came down heavily on a few newspapers for spreading baseless rumours. Lashing out at them stating that they’re acting at the behest of government and its, Revanth denied of joining BJP.

Revanth also hit out at BJP’s Laxman who stated that the party don’t want to forge alliance with the TDP. Revanth said that the decision lies with Amit Shah and said it’d be discussed by Chandrababu Naidu and Amit Shah. He also pointed at Andhra Pradesh where BJP is part of the ruling government headed by TDP.

Exposing the double standards of the BJP, Revanth said, “Amit Shah criticizes of KCR’s family rule in Telangana and the next day Union Minister Bandaru Dattatreya garlands KCR, KTR and hails their ruling as best. Amit Shah laments of corruption in Telangana, and in contrary, Bandaru Dattatreya praises Harish Rao over Irrigation and water-grid and felicitates him. First BJP leaders should stop their double standards and should take a clear stand against TRS in Telangana.”

Revanth Reddy states that he’s keen on joining all the forces against KCR and TRS in Telangana.

The election campaign in RK Nagar, the constituency represented by late TN CM Jayalalithaa, stoop to the lowest possible level as the two rival groups are indulged in desperate attempts to claim her inheritance.

The camp of Jayalalithaa’s loyalist O Panneerselvam is carrying a replica of her coffin during their campaign at RK Nagar. They justify their macabre act saying that the coffin represents their demand for an investigation into her mysterious death.

On the other hand, the faction represented by VK Sasikala, Jayalalithaa’s long-time companion, is using an old video of Jayalalithaa in which the audio had allegedly been tampered with. The video now shows her seeking votes for Dinakaran, who was expelled by Jayalalithaa when she was alive. Dinakaran was re-inducted in the party by his aunt Sasikala only after Jayalalithaa’s death.

As RK Nagar constituency is the most prestigious one in Tamil Nadu considering it was represented by Jaya in her lifetime, the two groups of AIADMK are hellbent on winning the by-elections, by hook or crook. Their acts of using Jayalalithaa’s dead body and videos to gain sympathy from people are receiving flak from rational people.