18 in fray for Malkajgiri Assembly seat

18 in fray for Malkajgiri Assembly seat Marri Ramu

Main contest will be among Congress, TDP, PR and BJP

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Congress, TDP, BJP field BC candidates, PR contestant is from a forward community Candidates of the major parties refrain from making tall promises to people

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. — Photos: P.V. SIVAKUMAR Reaching out: Congress candidate for Malkajgiri Akula Rajender campaigning at Yapral on Thursday. (Centre) Praja Rayam candidate C. Kanaka Reddy exchanging greetings with residents during his campaign. (Right) Residents of SP Nagar explaining their problems to TDP candidate Sharada Mahesh

HYDERABAD: It being the first election after formation of the Malkajgiri Assembly constituency, history will be in the making when voters here press the buttons of Electronic Voting Machines electing their first MLA on April 16.

Though there are 18 candidates in the fray in this Assembly segment, the key contest will be among Akula Rajender of the Congress, C. Kanaka Reddy of the Praja Rajyam (PR), Sharada Mahesh of the Telugu Desam (TDP) and M. Bala Lingam of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Interestingly, G. Suryanarayana Reddy, a rebel candidate of the Congress, is also in the fray.

The Congress, TDP and BJP candidates had earlier worked as councillor, chairperson and vice-chairman of Malkajgiri municipality respectively. This gave them an edge over their PR rival though the latter too was in public life for quite some time.

Strong network

The Congress, TDP and BJP candidates have strong network in Malkajgiri but are relatively new to Alwal from where the PR nominee, Mr. Kanaka Reddy, hails.

Another interesting factor about this constituency is that while all the three major parties have fielded candidates from backward castes, the PR chose the candidate from a forward community.

Mr. Rajender kicked off his campaign at Yapral promising people to solve all local issues -- from creating a separate police station for the area to improve infrastructure in government schools. “Congress government’s people welfare measures will win votes for me,” he exuded confidence.

Ms. Sharada Mahesh is banking on the works she executed during her tenure as Malkajgiri Municipal Chairperson.

“Give me one more chance to serve you, I will show you how I can make a difference,” she assured voters at S.P. Nagar.

Mr. Kanaka Reddy is relying on his party president and actor Chiranjeevi’s image. “We will serve you better than all the present parties and leaders.” he told the public at JLS Nagar.

But BJP candidate, Mr. Bala Lingam, is questioning what the earlier public representatives have done pointing to the water scarcity at JLS Nagar. “I will fight to get RTC buses even to remote parts of the constituency,” he told the people.

But all of them were careful enough not to make tall promises. With 14 more days left for the polls, they are yet to read the minds of the people who only nod to anything the candidates say.

Pavan Kalyan stated that P R P would be getting 165+ seats in the ensuing elections and there is no question of any hung assembly, he expressed confid

YSR terms PR ‘cinema party’

SANGAREDDY: Training his guns against PR president K. Chiranjeevi during his election campaign, Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy on Wednesday said that politics is not a two hour cinema.

Addressing road side gatherings at Ramayampet and Toopran, Mr. Rajasekhara Reddy wondered how the PR president could oppose huge irrigation projects which would improve the conditions of agriculture.

He termed the PR as cinema party.

TDP candidate files nomination

Bhimavaram: Telugu Desam candidate for Bhimavaram Assembly seat Gadiraju Satyanarayana Raju (Babu) filed his nomination papers before Returning Officer T. Appa Rao on Thursday. Earlier, he took out a huge rally after having darshan at Sri Sai Baba temple near RTC bus stand here.

Pavan Kalyan stated that P R P would be getting 165+ seats in the ensuing elections and there is no question of any hung assembly, he expressed confidence about P R P’s victory. He further stated that its very unfortunate that even till today Gandhiji caste is not forgotten, right from Phule generation still struggling for social justice. N T R - T D P is different - C B N - T D P is different. Pavan Kalyan is the only man who could dare to show his fingers to the Congress leaders and made their stand open in public. His style of attacking is entirely different, he said that brother level of work is different and I work at a different level but both our amibtions are one and the same. When asked now a days looks like you have reduced your attacking voice, he said always I need not shout at things because often making attacks will reduce the intensity. How are you feeling having floated Yuvarajyam - Pavan stated that though not this my intentions would have remained the same. Pavan said power of P R P would be known only after elections, this is a silent revolution.

Pavan Kalyan stated that P R P would be getting 165+ seats in the ensuing elections and there is no question of any hung assembly, he expressed confid

YSR terms PR ‘cinema party’

SANGAREDDY: Training his guns against PR president K. Chiranjeevi during his election campaign, Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy on Wednesday said that politics is not a two hour cinema.

Addressing road side gatherings at Ramayampet and Toopran, Mr. Rajasekhara Reddy wondered how the PR president could oppose huge irrigation projects which would improve the conditions of agriculture.

He termed the PR as cinema party.

TDP candidate files nomination

Bhimavaram: Telugu Desam candidate for Bhimavaram Assembly seat Gadiraju Satyanarayana Raju (Babu) filed his nomination papers before Returning Officer T. Appa Rao on Thursday. Earlier, he took out a huge rally after having darshan at Sri Sai Baba temple near RTC bus stand here.

Pavan Kalyan stated that P R P would be getting 165+ seats in the ensuing elections and there is no question of any hung assembly, he expressed confidence about P R P’s victory. He further stated that its very unfortunate that even till today Gandhiji caste is not forgotten, right from Phule generation still struggling for social justice. N T R - T D P is different - C B N - T D P is different. Pavan Kalyan is the only man who could dare to show his fingers to the Congress leaders and made their stand open in public. His style of attacking is entirely different, he said that brother level of work is different and I work at a different level but both our amibtions are one and the same. When asked now a days looks like you have reduced your attacking voice, he said always I need not shout at things because often making attacks will reduce the intensity. How are you feeling having floated Yuvarajyam - Pavan stated that though not this my intentions would have remained the same. Pavan said power of P R P would be known only after elections, this is a silent revolution.

Praja Rajyam plays ‘social justice’ card

Praja Rajyam plays ‘social justice’ card

Fields illiterate tribal woman from Kovur segment in Nellore district

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Munnemma’s speech last October impresses Chiru

Kovur constituency comprises large ST, BC, SC electorate

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Triangular fight?: Former Minister and TDP nominee for Kovur Nallapareddy Prasanna Kumar Reddy wooing voters in Nellore district as part of his campaign on Thursday.

KOVUR (NELLORE DIST): Tupakula Munemma, the first candidate announced by Praja Rajyam, will enter the fray against sitting MLA and Congress nominee Polamreddy Srinivasulu Reddy as also TDP candidate and former Minister Nallapareddy Prasanna Kumar Reddy in the elections.

Praja Rajyam president Chiranjeevi who was impressed by Munemma’s speech at ‘Mahila Varathi’ programme organised in Hyderabad during October last announced that the party will allot her a ticket in the ensuing elections. Keeping up the promise, the party announced her name in the fifth list on Wednesday.

Kovur, which was under Ongole Parliamentary constituency before delimitation, was a strong bastion for Reddy community and only Reddys represented the constituency since 1962. After delimitation, the constituency has come into Nellore Lok Sabha.

Reddy stronghold

Though Kovur is a stronghold for Reddys, Praja Rajyam’s decision to field Munemma, an illiterate belonging to the Yanadi community, in the name of ‘social justice’ sent chills down the spine for Congress and Telugu Desam parties as there were a good number of tribal, BC and minorities’ votes in the segment.

The constituency boasts of the highest electorate of around 2,24,503, in Sri Potti Sriramulu Nellore district. Of this, about 25,000 are tribals, 40,000 BCs and close to 15,000 minority and SC voters. But, the Congress, TDP and Praja Rajyam candidates are all upbeat about victory.

While Mr. Prasanna Kumar Reddy opines that dissidents and anti-incumbency will benefit TDP, Mr. Polamreddy says the fight will be between Praja Rajyam and the ruling party. The innovative schemes introduced by the Congress are the party’s strength.

On the other hand, Praja Rajyam is confident that the slogan ‘social justice’ will click at the hustings. Stating that only poor can bring social justice, Munemma (30), an daily wage labourer declares that she will strive for imposing ban on liquor and bring a seachange in the lives of the poor if she wins.

Congress hitch

Mr. Prasanna Kumar Reddy who started campaigning way earlier of others in the constituency says the Congress workers and the people are vexed with the local MLA’s behaviour and Telugu Desam has an edge in the segment.

“There are several groups in the Congress in the constituency. The party leaders organised protests for allotting ticket to the sitting MLA and met the Chief Minister urging him to change the candidate.

The dissidence in the Congress will benefit TDP”, said a party worker.

The Congress nominee and MLA said that Praja Rajyam will split the votes of the TDP but sees no threat for the Congress.

The party has a good hold in Bucchireddypalem, Indukuripeta and Kodavaluru mandals, he said.

Locals says that Chiranjeevi is keen on winning in this segment as his father had worked long ago in Kovur and the film actor has childhood association with the region. The party plans to take special interest in Kovur segment, they say.

Sanjay Dutt loses plea, can’t contest

Sanjay Dutt loses plea, can’t contest

Court refuses to suspend his conviction

— Photo: Subir Roy Sanjay Dutt in Lucknow on Tuesday.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to suspend the conviction and sentence of six-year imprisonment imposed by the trial court on actor Sanjay Dutt in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, to enable him to contest the Lok Sabha polls.

A three-judge Bench of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, Justice P. Sathasivam and Justice R.M. Lodha, dismissing Mr. Dutt’s application, said: “In view of the serious offence for which he has been convicted by the special judge, we are not inclined to suspend the conviction and sentence awarded by the special judge in the present case.”

Writing the judgment, Mr. Justice Balakrishnan said: “Of course, his conviction and sentence have been challenged before this court in an appeal. Though our attention was drawn to the various findings recorded by the special judge and also the nature of evidence adduced by the prosecution, we do not propose to consider these facts at this stage as it may seriously prejudice either of the parties when the appeal filed by the petitioner is considered by this court.”

The Bench noted that the petitioner was a well-known cine artist and because of his contribution to art and cinema he had got a large number of fans throughout the country and abroad. “His father was also a well-known film actor and he was deeply involved in politics. At one point of time, the petitioner’s father was a Minister in the Union Cabinet. The petitioner is not a habitual criminal, nor has it been brought to our notice that he had been involved in any other criminal case.”

It said: “Despite all these favourable circumstances, we do not think that this is a fit case where conviction and sentence could be suspended so that the bar under Section 8 (3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 will not operate against the petitioner. Law prohibits any person who has been convicted of any offence and sentenced for not less than two years from contesting the election and such person shall be disqualified for a further period of six years since his release. In the face of such a provision, the power of the court under Section 389 Cr.PC [to suspend conviction and sentence] shall be exercised only under exceptional circumstances.”

On the contention that the Supreme Court granted relief to Navjot Singh Sidhu in similar circumstances, the Bench pointed out that he was a sitting member of Parliament and he could have continued as MP even after his conviction and sentence in view of Section 8 (4) of the R.P. Act (given three months to file an appeal).

The Bench said Mr. Sidhu resigned and expressed his desire to contest the election. That was a case where the trial court acquitted him and the High Court, in reversal, found him guilty. It was in those circumstances this court granted stay of the order of conviction and sentence, the Bench said.

“Won’t leave Lucknow”

Atiq Khan reports from Lucknow:

Responding to the Supreme Court verdict, Mr. Dutt said: “Lucknow is my home and I will never leave the city.”

Mr. Dutt, who remained confined to his Gomtinagar residence for almost the whole day, broke his silence in the evening.

The visibly dejected actor said he respected the court verdict and would continue to support Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh and general secretary Amar Singh. “They have supported me and I will continue to support them,” he told journalists.

Interview with Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia

Ashok Dasgupta

Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia left early on Monday for London for the preparatory sherpa meeting ahead of the G-20 summit of Heads of State on April 2, which is to be attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

In an exclusive interview with The Hindu prior to his departure, Mr Ahluwalia spoke at length on issues pertaining to the global financial crisis, the steps that need to be taken to combat the resultant slowdown and India's expectations from the summit.

Q: What is the backdrop of the G20 London summit?

A: The summit is taking place at a time when there is global crisis of extraordinary magnitude, the worst in 60 years. I think all the leaders understand that the summit’s aim is to look at the global economic situation, to review what has been achieved in the areas identified in November last year when they met in Washington and, may be, to give some messages on what should be done in future.

Q: What is India’s expectation from the summit?

A: Obviously, we are interested in all the different elements of the global crisis which needs a global response. India is one of the 20 countries which represent about 70 per cent of the world GDP and we hope the summit comes out with a global message which meets our expectations. We need a revival of the global economy, we need the financial system in industrialised countries to get fixed as soon as possible, without which it is difficult to envisage a revival of confidence. We think that the global community needs to take some special measures to make sure that the developing countries are helped at a time when a crisis that was not of their making is having a very severe effect on them.

The whole shrinkage of private capital flows from emerging markets is massive, something like US$ 700 billion. Obviously, this will have an adverse effect on growth of many developing countries and I think that this withdrawal of capital has occurred not because of anything that has gone wrong in developing countries but because the financial systems in the industrialised countries malfunctioned. So the global community needs to take corrective steps so that some revival of capital flows takes place till the multilateral institutions step in. There is also the larger issue of financial architecture. We need to make sure that in a globally integrated world where a crisis in one part of the system can affect the whole world, we should have a global governance framework that can anticipate such crises and then take corrective action.

Q: From the Indian perspective, what should be the ingredients of these special measures?

A: First of all, it is very important that a coordinated effort is made by all major economies, including India, to take steps to de-lever the crisis. Since this is a period when governments have to actively intervene, it is our view that both monetary and fiscal policy should be actively used to restore growth momentum. On our own front, we would certainly tell the assembled leaders that we are doing what is necessary. We have had a major relaxation of monetary policy, we have had a major fiscal stimulus, we have tried to make sure that the more vulnerable sections of our population get an adequate flow of support through the NREG programme and we would like to see the rest of the world also take steps to stimulate their economies.

Secondly, I think it is very important that the global economies remain open. We are very concerned that there are protectionist noises being made and I want to emphasise that we must distinguish between a protectionist noise and actual protectionist action. The fact is that a protectionist noise actually gets converted into action unless there is a strong political leadership. When the leaders met in Washington in November, they had said that we must have a ‘standstill’ agreement -- in the absence of an agreement on the Doha Round -- that we will not increase protectionism. Actually, every country has taken some action but, by and large, the protectionist actions taken have been minor.

But protectionist pressures are rising and we are very concerned, for example, over financial protectionism. We support the fact that industrialised countries are trying to save their banking system. So when the banking sector has problems, we have to recapitalise banks. But some governments have said that one of the conditions of recapitalising is that they will preferentially increase domestic lending. This is protectionist. As a result, trade finance has dried up as banks are focusing on their own home turf. This hurts developing countries because if they have an incentive not to lend to trade, then I think trade will decline. So we are opposed to that.

Then finally, I think in the area of multilateral institutions, we can increase the flow of resources to developing countries through institutions like the IMF and the World Bank. Fortunately, India has no intention of going to the IMF as our reserves are very ample. But for developing countries as a whole, it’s very important that the IMF is adequately financed. The present position is that the IMF’s total resources are $ 250 billion, which is exactly equal to India’s foreign exchange reserves. Now how can the IMF solve the problems of the world if its resources are equal to only India’s reserves? On the one hand it tells you that India is very adequately protected, but it also certainly tells you that the IMF is not adequately funded. So we want more of that.

PRP fields new faces

PRP fields new faces Staff Reporter

Rebel problem at many places

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Allu and Palla making electoral debut

New candidates in 11 constituencies

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VISAKHAPATNAM: Reminiscent of the TDP fielding fresh candidates way back in 1983, the fledgling Praja Rajyam Party (PRP), led by actor Chiranjeevi, has been successful in introducing several new candidates from the Lok Sabha and the Assembly constituencies in the district.

PRP’s top gun and general secretary Allu Aravind is the nominee from Anakapalle Lok Sabha but this is his first electoral foray. His Visakhapatnam and Araku counterparts Palla Srinivas and M. Simhachalam are also making their electoral debut. In 11 of the 15 Assembly constituencies it has fielded new faces. From Anakapalle Assembly constituency, it fielded party’s face of the district Ganta Srinivasa Rao.

PRP nominees for Visakhapatnam West P.V.G.R. Naidu (Ganababu), R. Yerra Patrudu (Narsipatnam) and G.V. Nageswara Rao (Elamanchili), are not new to electoral politics. But from Visakhapatnam North, South and East, Gajuwaka, Pendurthy, Bhimili, Chodavaram, Madugula, Payakaraopeta (SC), Paderu (ST) and Araku Valley (ST) the party has given tickets to the persons who have not fought Assembly elections before.

Disappointed lot

Since it is a new party, several aspirants have associated themselves with the party and took up service activities and promoted party programmes spending money. However, they are a disappointed lot when the PRP announced the nominees in the last minute.

Thus the party ended up with a good number of rebels filing nominations from various constituencies.

Among them are T. Manohar Kumar, K. Sandilya and Pedada Ramana Kumari (Visakhapatnam North); Pyla Jagannadha Rao and G.V. Narasimha Rao (Pendurthy); Korada Rajababu (Bhimunipatnam); U. Siva Nageswara Rao and Gorle Satyanarayana (Gajuwaka); Yerru Naidu (Chodavaram) and J. Rajagopal (Payakaraopeta).

The other parties are also not free from the rebel trouble. Sitting MLAs of the Congress - Karri Sitaramu (Bhimunipatnam); K. Ravibabu (Araku) and P. Mangapathi Rao (Madugula) filed nominations though their names are not cleared by the party.

Thota Vijayalakshmi, who has been first named from Pendurthy and later replaced by Gandi Babji, continues to be in the fray. Besides, she also filed her papers from Anakapalle where Commercial Taxes Minister Konathala Ramakrishna is the Assembly nominee.

The TDP appears to be relatively free from the problem. Only L.B.V. Rao and former MLA K. Chitti Naidu filed papers from Araku (ST) constituency.

Jai Chiranjeeva’ to counter Praja Rajyam

‘Jai Chiranjeeva’ to counter Praja Rajyam G.V. Prasada Sarma

VISAKHAPATNAM: The nascent Praja Rajyam has a rival off-shoot. Those not happy with the official nominees announced by the PR got together and floated a party ‘Jai Chiranjeeva’, borrowing the title of a film of the actor.

The party aims to bring all the PR rebels together. In many of the 15 Assembly constituencies in the district, official PR nominees are facing rebels.

Gandham Nandagopal, who unsuccessfully aspired for the Anakapalle Lok Sabha seat from the PR, announced the forming of the party at Narsipatnam. Goragani Srinivasa Rao, who was denied the Narsipatnam Assembly seat and filed his papers as a rebel, was present.

Much before the announcement of nominees, he held a press conference criticising the manner in which PR functioned and particularly targeted general secretary Allu Aravind and party district (rural and urban) convener Ganta Srinivasa Rao.

Pavan Kalyan coming today

Pavan Kalyan coming today

Film actor and Yuva Rajyam president Pavan Kalyan will campaign for party candidates for two days in the district from Wednesday.

He will address meetings at Gajuwaka Lanka grounds at 4 p.m. and Bheemunipatnam Lighthouse at 6 p.m. on Wednesday. On Thursday, he will address meetings at Narsipatnam at 10 a.m., Chodavaram at 12 noon, Anakapalle at 2 p.m. and Atchyutapuram at 4 p.m.

Yuva Rajyam district general secretary Y. Dorababu, organising secretary V. Satish Kumar and secretary Gnaneswara Rao told reporters that there would not be any roadshow during the visit of Mr. Pavan Kalyan.

Manorama

Manorama

Jeevi rating: 3/5 Punchline: film on humanism Genre: Thriller Type: Straight Banner: Zee Motion Pictures

Cast: Charmme, Nishan, Dhanush, Pradeep, Lahari, Master Sai Kumar, Srivastav, Sridhar Rao, Ali, MS Narayana, Sudeepa, Narsing Yadav etc

Music: Koti Cinematography: Jagan JRJ Editing: Marthand k Venkatesh Story - dialogues: Padmasri Screenplay - direction: V Eeswar Reddy Producer: P Goenka Release date: 27 March 2009

Story Manorama chat bhandar is a popular hangout place for Hyderabadis in Koti area. Geetanjali (Charmme) stays at an apartment that is just opposite to Manorama chat place. A stranger arrives at Manorama chat and plants his bag containing a time bomb. The bomb is supposed to blast at 1 pm and it fails to do so. There are chances that it may go off at any point of time. That is when that stranger sees Geetanjali at chat bhandar and develop soft corner for her. The rest of the story is all about the bomb and the relationship between the stranger and Geetanjali.

Artists Performance

Charmme did a different role in this film. Her histrionics in the second half are worth commending. Newcomer Nishan is pretty confident. National award winning child actor Sai Kumar (Belly Full of Dreams fame) did the role of a servant in chat bhandar and he is very good. Dhanush and Pradeep (Radio Mirchi) are good in their roles. Lahari impresses with casual acting. Model Sridhar did a positive role. Ali and MS Narayana are uninteresting in this film. Srivastav (Hyderabad Nawabs fame) is mildly entertaining though he went overboard towards the end.

Technical departments

Story - screenplay - direction: Story of the film is humanistic. It preaches that love should overcome all the hatred developed by mankind due to various issues like religion and regionalism. The concept of Charmme watching Chat Bhandar and surroundings using a binocular from the window of her room and discovering that something is wrong reminds us of the Alfred Hitchcock’s film ‘Rear Window’. The entire Manorama chat bhandar set-up remind us of Gokul chat blasts that happened recently. The idea of animated 500 note is innovative and gives lot of relief. The dialogues written and dubbing done for the same is very good. Director Eeswar Reddy handled the first half smoothly. But he could not narrate the love angle convincingly in second half. He didn’t do the characterization of Charmme character properly. We are supposed to be sympathetic about her character, but we end up becoming bored due to the excessive preaching. The second half drags and it needs some serious trimming. The story idea and the set up of plot are good. This kind of plot needs stylish execution and sophisticated treatment. But, Manorama film isn’t treated with classy execution.

Other departments: Songs of the film are mediocre. One song is inspired from Bollywood flick Gangster (Bheegi Bheegi). Background music is adequate. Dialogues are neat. Cinematography by Jagan is average. Art direction by Ashok is authentic. Editing is fair.

Analysis: First half of the film is nice. The second half drags. The plus points are plot idea and humanism. The negative points are slow second half and excessive preaching. It is a risky proposition to make a film with limited locations and with an idealistic story with hours of time-frame. Producer should be appreciated for it. On a whole, Manorama is not a bad film though a better handling of script would have made the film more interesting.

Telugu film Photo Gallery Manorama - Charmme