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Andhra Pradesh
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Hyderabad
Guns and forces in House
Fawning crowds, marfa band and fire crackers. It was a reception fit for a king. The arrival of Majlis president Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi to inaugurate the underground cabling work at Laad Bazar the other day wasmemorable. Party workers accorded a grand reception to the `Salar' who was making a rare public appearance. Mr. Owaisi's car was mobbed as he passed through Patharghatti. The band players went into frenzy as the Majlis workers goaded them with a shower of notes. There was an ear-splitting burst of crackers with none bothered about the tourists at Charminar. Many wondered what the hullabaloo was all about. Before they could realise what was happening, the aging leader unveiled the plaque, got into the car and left the place.
Guns seem to have become an inalienable part of a politician's life in the State. Despite the Maoists being pushed out of the State boundaries, the police continue to be on high alert.
With every MLA and every politician worth his salt being provided gunmen, the Assembly premises is literally swarmed with them, wielding sophisticated carbines and Kalashnikovs.
Mercifully, the cops are well trained and there have been no instances of a gun going off accidentally. But the civilians who go to the Assembly are certainly ill at ease with all such weapons being carried around.
Chairman of the Delimitation Commission Kuldeep Singh during a recent public hearing on the ongoing delimitation of Assembly constituencies, provided quite a few lighter moments.
The moment Sanathnagar legislator Marri Shashidhar Reddy came to present his views, Mr. Singh went through his file and said: "Oh, you are highly qualified. MS from US! It is good to have people like you in politics."
The best, however, was reserved for Siddipet MP Sarvey Satyanarayana who lamented that his constituency was being taken away. "I waited for 15 years to get a ticket to the constituency which was reserved for Scheduled Castes. But now they have made it a general constituency. How will I get a ticket now?"
"You won't have to worry about the ticket if you are in the good books of Ms. Sonia Gandhi. And I think a dynamic person like you can win easily even from a general constituency," was how Mr. Singh retorted.
When the first woman IPS officer Kiran Bedi addressed women employees of the Secretariat on the occasion of International Women's Day, they wanted some tips too.
What is the secret of her self-confidence and energy? "How can I give away all my secrets in one meeting?" Ms. Bedi asked in a lighter vein. Then gave the mantra, "I respect my time, don't go for useless parties, go to useful dinners but don't overstay. I buy my time by paying for laundry and kitchen help. I never overeat, do exercise and read every day to nourish my mind".
K. Srinivas Reddy, Dennis Marcus Mathew and M.L. Melly Maitreyi
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