New Delhi: Chief Minister Revanth Reddy has performed the ultimate Congress rite of passage: naming a mega-project after “family” before a single brick is laid. The upcoming Mamnoor Airport in Warangal—slated for completion only by 2028—officially has a name, well before its construction tenders have even cleared the runway.
In a masterclass of political posturing, the CM announced the airport will honour Recherla Rudra Reddy, the legendary Kakatiya Empire’s warrior and army commander. And it’s not the surname that sounds familiar. As is the buzz in Congress circles, the CM’s own grandson is named Reyansh Rudra Dev Reddy.
As for that democratic, crowd-sourced X poll asking Telangana citizens to suggest names? Pure political theatre.
While netizens enthusiastically suggested 10 names—including one for P.V. Narasimha Rao, given that his constituency, Hanumakonda, was formerly part of the Warangal district—the poll was debated only after Revanth had already dispatched an official letter to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) with his preferred pick.
Tenders are yet to be grounded, and the runway is yet to take shape, but Revanth’s dynastic footprint is already firmly stamped on the tarmac.
Unease in Karnataka Congress as DK Shivakumar uses SG Tushar Mehta’s services
Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar’s decision to utilise the services of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta has not gone down well within the state Congress ecosystem.
Senior party leaders expressed concern at the message it is likely to send, considering Mehta’s proximity to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
“Though there is nothing wrong professionally, it appears to be done to balance relations with the BJP,” one senior Congress leader said, requesting anonymity.
Another leader said that it sends not just a “wrong signal but a poor one”.
Shivakumar, who also additionally holds the Law department in the cabinet, used Mehta to defend the position of the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA), the city’s civic body in the Premium Floor Area Ratio case.
Shivakumar heads the GBA, even though Krishna Byre Gowda is the Bengaluru district in-charge minister.
Karnataka Congressmen say the government had other options to choose from, including those it has frequently engaged such as Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Kapil Sibal, Mohan Katarki or the state’s own advocate general, Shashi Kiran Shetty.
When the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) came to power in 2014, Mehta was appointed the Additional Solicitor General (ASG). He had earlier served as Additional Advocate General in Gujarat. He quickly rose up the ranks and was appointed the SG in October 2018. In 2023, he was re-appointed for three more years, and again earlier this year for another three-year term. This gives Mehta a total of 11 years as the Solicitor General, just two years short of the longest-serving person at the position, C.K. Daphtary, who had held the office for 13 years from 1950 to 1963.
Since his formal entry into Union government’s law department in 2014, Mehta has argued on several important issues, including abrogation of Article 370, the electoral bonds case, Ramjanmabhoomi title dispute, Supreme Court’s suo motu proceedings related to the treatment of Covid-19 patients and the dignified handling of bodies in hospitals, the case relating to the deportation of Rohingya refugees to Myanmar, the constitutional validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, the marriage equality case, and so on.
Nitin Nabin’s message to UP team
BJP national president Nitin Nabin has sent a message to party leaders and workers in Uttar Pradesh for future: no bulldozer-led welcome and no large hoardings in his honour.
During his recent visit to western Uttar Pradesh, Nabin was welcomed with a bulldozer on the first day. Similar preparations were made at several places on the second day. However, Nabin’s convoy did not stop at one of the designated welcome points.
Several senior BJP leaders were seen waiting at the spot with garlands in their hands, but Nabin’s convoy drove past without stopping. A video of the incident had gone viral.
Following the incident, Nabin is learnt to have advised BJP leaders against such elaborate welcome arrangements.
According to party sources, the BJP president made it clear that there was no need for flower showers from bulldozers or large hoardings to welcome him.
Instead, he told party workers to put up the Bharatiya Janata Party flag at their own homes and encourage supporters to do the same. That, he said, would be the real welcome. This is a murmur in BJP circles. At a time when the bulldozer has become closely associated with UP CM Yogi Adityanath’s political image, Nabin has chosen to take a different stand.
DK Shivakumar’s ‘drone poaching’ plan
Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and C.T. Ravi of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) indulged in a rare display of banter in the upper house of the state legislature.
Shivakumar insinuated that he wanted to ‘poach Ravi’ to the Congress side. The CM was speaking about evolving technologies, and how drones were fighting wars instead of fighter planes.
“If you want to pick someone up (from the ground) like Ravi, I can do it with a drone. Whether I get him or not, I am trying to pick up Ravi to our side,” Shivakumar said, smiling and making a gesture of picking someone up from the ground.
His remarks sent the House into peels of laughter as the CM himself laughed along.
Ravi responded, “You (Shivakumar) may have your eyes on Ravi, but I know your origins. Since they are the same as ours (BJP), if we can get you to our side, all problems will be solved.”
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