New Delhi: Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, who has previously demonstrated his football prowess—dribbling and sprinting with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during the Bharat Jodo yatra’s Telangana leg—has been practicing hard ahead of his meeting with a legend.
Revanth (56) will be meeting Lionel Messi in Hyderabad on 13 December.
Taking out time late at night post his busy schedule, Revanth, in full footballer gear, has been seen practicing with youngsters at the MCRHRD grounds. The training is for a friendly/exhibition match scheduled at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Uppal, Hyderabad, as part of the grand finale of the Telangana Rising Global Summit, which is being organised as the Revanth-led Congress government completes two years in power in Telangana.
While the CM’s team, reportedly to include students from government-run institutions, will be named ‘CM 11’, Messi’s will be ‘LM-10’, CMO officials told some reporters. Revanth is expected to don jersey with no. 9 as he takes on Messi.
That the Telangana CM is in full footballer mode is evident from the football-themed advice he has been giving party colleagues.
“When I was training yesterday, the other guys were trying to snatch the ball away. Do I protest saying that he is kicking with legs, and go, sit out? In politics too, confrontations, obstructions are most common. We need to overcome them, but not give up,” the CM told newly elected district party presidents at a Congress meet in Gandhi Bhavan last week.
CM-Chief secy bonhomie in Rajasthan
Last month, former chief secretary of Rajasthan Sudhansh Pant was suddenly transferred out a year before the end of his tenure, and sent to the Centre. The unexpected transfer was largely attributed to strained relations between him and Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma, a political novice.
What also stood out in a major reshuffle following the appointment of the new chief secretary, V. Srinivas last month, was the ouster of additional chief secretary in the CMO Shikhar Agrawal, who had emerged as a parallel power centre to Pant. This signalled an attempt to diffuse tensions at the top levels of decision-making in Rajasthan.
It already seems to be reaping results. Sharma recently praised the new chief secretary’s open-door policy for officers working across the state, which allows them to meet him without prior appointments. Insiders say there have been obvious attempts by both Srinivas and the CM to smoothen government functioning after almost a year of simmering tensions between the top echelons of the state government.
BJP’s outreach to INDIA bloc’s IP Gupta
The Opposition’s attempt to expand its social coalition during the Bihar elections saw it bring in the Indian Inclusive Party (IIP), which represents the Tanti-Tatwa and Pan communities. The party, led by IP Gupta, focused primarily on reclaiming the community’s Scheduled Caste status that had been withdrawn following a Supreme Court order earlier this year.
Gupta, who contested one of the two seats allotted to the party by the INDIA bloc, won from his constituency, even as the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), the other coalition partner representing smaller castes, failed to win any seat. Grapevine has it that a top BJP leader called Gupta after the results, congratulated him, and offered him a ministerial berth in the new state cabinet. Gupta told him that he was open to the possibility, provided the core demand of his party was accepted. Watch this space to see how the negotiation progresses.
BJP’s poll promise to Delhi women on backburner
The BJP’s poll promise of Rs 2,500 monthly support scheme for women in Delhi is unlikely to be rolled out any time soon. According to BJP leaders, it has been put on the backburner for now, especially with bypolls also over and MCD elections scheduled for 2027.
A senior party leader said there’s a view emerging within the party and the government that the scheme should be launched at a later date. The BJP won 7 out of 12 seats in the recent MCD bypolls without the scheme being in place. “So, there isn’t any urgency. We want to focus on overall development and infrastructure improvement,” explained an official.
The immediate focus for now is tackling Delhi’s pollution, added the leader. The government has already formed a committee and is also waiting for it to finish its work; following its recommendations, a decision on how the scheme should be rolled out and who the beneficiaries will be decided.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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