Bardhan-Naidu talks on third alternative , Breakfast meeting on alliances held at Telugu Desam Party president’s residence

Bardhan expresses anxiety over rise of divisive forces

Naidu emphasises cordial ties with Left on many issues

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-Photo: Praveen Kumar Vinjam

Playing host: CPI national general secretary A.B. Bardhan being welcomed by Telugu Desam president N. Chandrababu Naidu at his residence in Hyderabad on Wednesday.

HYDERABAD: Communist Party of India general secretary A. B. Bardhan on Wednesday emphasised the need for pooling in all the non-Congress and non- BJP forces on to a single platform.

Speaking to press persons briefly after a breakfast meeting with Telugu Desam president N. Chandrababu Naidu at the latter’s Jubilee Hills residence, Mr. Bardhan said that Mr. Naidu and he had discussed the political situation and the need for strengthening the third alternative political formation.

In the closed-door meeting, Telugu Desam Party sources said, Mr. Naidu made a presentation on his laptop to his guest and other senior party leaders Raja and S. Sudhakar Reddy, reportedly on the prospects in store, provided the TDP, Left parties and Telangana Rashtra Samithi go together in the Assembly elections.

Mr. Bardhan said, the country was facing a critical situation with communal riots breaking out at various places. Divisive activities were on the rise in the north as well as the south with people like Maharashtra Navanirman Sena’s Raj Thackeray raising their voices.

“It’s a serious situation and we discussed and shared our respective concern”.

On a humorous note

On forging an electoral alliance with TDP, Mr. Bardhan wondered why the media was so impatient when Mr. Naidu himself showed so much of patience.

Asked who was his better friend, Mr. Naidu or Chiranjeevi, he quipped, “My wife”.

Mr. Bardhan had met Mr. Chiranjeevi on Tuesday to seek his support for the third alternative.

To another question, he said there was no difference of opinion between the State and Central committees of the party over alliances.

On his part, Mr. Naidu said, he had an enduring relationship with Left parties in fighting issues like corruption, communalism and rising prices. “We will fight the Congress as it has brought a bad name to the country by entering into a nuclear deal with the United States.”

Weighing scale in IT canteen!

HYDERABAD: Employees of an Indian IT major in the city are a flummoxed lot these days. The new weighing scale in the canteen has left them confused and hungry. According to sources, the caterers to whom the canteen services are outsourced have started weighing food before it’s served.

“Earlier they never used to weigh the food and we got much more than what we are getting now,” says an employee under the condition of anonymity.

Disgusted

The practice which started recently has left the employees surprised and some disgusted.

“It’s so humiliating to stand there and watch as the food is weighed before it is served to us,” says another employee.

The company removed the scale on Friday after receiving complaints from its employees. “They don’t need the scale any more because they know how much to serve now,” alleges the employee. However the company officials maintain that this was done to ensure that the employee got his/her money’s worth and not to ‘ration’ food.

“We eat how much we are served, we can’t ask for second helping. For Rs.30 earlier we got three ‘parathas’ but now we are getting just two. The cost of ‘biryani’ has gone up by Rs.10, but the quantity hasn’t,” says another employee.

While employees allege that there was no second helping, officials at the company said that this wasn’t the case and that they can’t really control the amount of food being served as it’s completely in the hands of the vendors.

Others allege that the food committee which is supposed to supervise the quality and pricing has turned blind to their complaints. “The ‘chicken biryani’ doesn’t have any chicken in it,” complains M. Abhishek (name changed).

Owing to the fuel hike and inflation, other companies too have been forced to hike the cost of food.

The cost of meals has gone up by an average of Rs.5-Rs. 10. Many complain that the quality of food too has come down. “For a month or so, we have noticed a drop in the quality of food being served to us. Also the number of items being served too has come down,” says a software engineer working for Oracle.

“They are resorting to cost cutting measures at various ends, but the least they could have done was to spare the canteen,” laments M. Sreeja (name changed), working with Satyam. Though beverages and biscuits still remain free of cost in most of the IT companies, employees say that this too might not last too long.

Yuva Garjana: boost to Nandamuri family

GUNTUR: The Nandamuri family led by film star Balakrishna is the new hope for a majority of Telugu Desam Party supporters and second line of leaders in the district for giving a kick-start to restore its past glory.

Party leaders and supporters from Krishna, Guntur and Prakasam districts have taken ‘Yuva Garjana’ on November 5 as “the event” to give a boost to the party’s fortunes riding on the popularity of Balakrishna, Junior NTR and Tarakaratna.

Tarakaratna was open in his assertions in Nellore that Balakrishna was the man to look forward to for the future prospects of the TDP. Many leaders of the dominant community feel that TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu cannot be relied upon in the coming elections and the Nandamuri family could improve their chances of springing back to power.

Advani promised to bring Telangana bill, says Goud

NEW DELHI: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani has assured that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would introduce a bill for the creation of a separate Telangana State from the existing Andhra Pradesh immediately after coming to power in the coming Lok Sabha elections.

Nava Telengana Praja Party (NTPP) president T. Devender Goud, told The Hindu here on Tuesday, after meeting Mr. Advani, that the BJP was very much supportive of the formation of the separate State. Similarly NDA convenor and senior JD (U) leader George Fernandes and Rashtriya Lok Dal president Ajit Singh too said they were agreeable for Telengana.

Mr. Goud replied in the negative when asked whether BJP-NTPP electoral tie-up for the coming Assembly/Lok Sabha polls in Andhra Pradesh was discussed with Mr. Advani.

Mr. Goud, a former minister in the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) government led by N. Chandrababu Naidu, quit the party and floated NTPP a few months ago following differences with Mr. Naidu on Telangana.

The main purpose of his Delhi visit was to make the Centre to introduce the bill before poll and mobilise support for it among the political parties.

Meanwhile Telangana Intellectuals Forum (TIF), a non-political organisation, has sought early introduction of the bill on Telangana in Parliament.

Man dies of heart attack as cop pulls out gun

HYDERABAD: In an intriguing case, a 55-year-old business man, P Ganesh, suffered a massive heart attack and died when Task Force personnel allegedly threatened him with a gun at his house at Hyderbasti in Secunderabad on Tuesday.

Though cases are reported to have been booked against the erring cops by their colleagues, top brass is learnt to have been trying to shield them.

According to an official release issued by commissioner of police B Prasada Rao, Ganesh and his son Raju were wanted in three cases relating to extortion registered at the Ramgopalpet police station.

"At 5.40 am, West Zone Task Force SI S Rajasekhar Reddy received credible information that Ganesh was at home. There was also information that he provided shelter to some Janashakti members in his house," the commissioner said. "The SI informed the businessman's family of the purpose of his visit, but Ganesh threatened the police and banged his head on the floor to injure himself. Realising the sensitivity of the situation, the SI advised the family to get Ganesh to the Task Force office for questioning," the release said.

However, the family members of Ganesh had an entirely different version. They alleged that the police threatened Ganesh to settle the property dispute amicably. "After an argument, one of them pulled out a revolver from his pocket," Mahankali ACP, Y Madhusudhan Rao said.

He said that Ganesh collapsed instantly as he saw the revolver and the three men walked away. Ganesh was immediately rushed to Yashoda Hospital in Secunderabad where he was declared brought dead.

Mahankali inspector of police A Prabhakar Rao said Ganesh's son Raju in his complaint claimed that his father was manhandled and threatened with a revolver by the Task Force personnel as a result of which he suffered a heart attack.

"Based on the complaint lodged by Raju, a case was registered under section 302 (Murder) of the IPC r/w section 34 (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) and section 25 of the Arms Act," Prabhakar Rao said.

The bone of contention is Ganesh's 800 square yards of land located on Minister Road and one Arvind Srimal had been pressurising him to sell it. "The businessman's family claimed that Task Force personnel came to the house on behalf of Arvind," Prabhakar Rao said.

Strangely, in the official release the city police commissioner said Ganesh along with CS Kabra, Harish Jain and MP Gandhi owned a property (No 2-2-578) on Minister Road and Arvind Srimal and his wife Sumita Srimal purchased it from GPA holder Gandhi in 2005.

"Ganesh and the other partners disputed the sale claiming that the GPA given to Gandhi was cancelled in 1995. Both the parties approached court. Ganesh and other partners filed a complaint against Gandhi, Arvind Srimal and Sumita Srimal at the Ramgopalpet police station, but the case was closed as RC 59/08 due to lack of evidence," the release said.

Later, Ganesh and Raju reportedly threatened Arvind Srimal and "extorted" Rs 10 lakh and based on the complaint lodged by Arvind, the Ramgopalpet police registered a criminal case against Ganesh and Raju and remanded them in judicial custody. Another criminal case was registered against the father-son duo for employing Janashakti naxalite B Somaiah, who threatened Arvind to settle the dispute.

"Somaiah was arrested on March 10 at Paradise Hotel in Secunderabad and an 8 mm country-made pistol, 12 bore country-made gun and 10 live rounds were recovered from him. Based on the confession of Somaiah, the Ramgopalpet police registered a case against him and Ganesh. Ganesh and Raju had been absconding since then," the press release added. However, according to the Mahankali police, the victim's family members claimed they were very much available in the city.