Glasshouse

GRANDEE AMBITIONS

From Jagan Mohan Reddy’s Rs 450 crore Rushikonda complex in Visakhapatnam to Arvind Kejriwal’s Rs 60 crore Flagstaff Road renovation in Delhi, the ‘sheesh mahals (glass palaces)’ ex-chief ministers built for themselves are under scrutiny. So it’s no surprise that Telangana CM Revanth Reddy’s ‘Bodhi Pavilion’ is under the scanner. Built inside Hyderabad’s MCR HRD Institute campus, it serves as a camp office near his Banjara Hills home. But Revanth is playing this one on the front foot, taking reporters on a tour of the place to counter the “extravagance” charges of the Opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS). He even showed them the washrooms, quipping that they were not bulletproof, a dig at BRS chief and ex-CM K. Chandrashekar Rao’s Rs 50-crore Pragati Bhavan, where even the toilets are reportedly fortified. Revanth had refused to occupy the KCR-built “palace” (now renamed Praja Bhavan), preferring to make it an example of the former regime’s profligacy.

CORNERED CHIEFTAIN | A-MEN FOR AZAM

Azam Khan was once one of Uttar Pradesh’s most powerful netas, but his men say he is now trapped in a chakravyuh of ‘A’ men (those whose names begin with ‘A’). The troubles began after Yogi Adityanath became CM in 2017. In came Anjaneya K. Singh (then Rampur district magistrate who exposed the ‘irregularities’ in his Jauhar Trust), and Ajay Pal Sharma (the SP who got Khan jail time in 2020 in the cases against him and his family). In 2022, bastion Rampur fell to the BJP’s Akash Saxena in the assembly byelection. Now, current DM Ajay Dwivedi is bent on demolishing 38 ‘illegal’ buildings of his Mohammad Ali Jauhar University. The ‘A-men’ surely seem bent on seeing his downfall.

THE MISSING SCION

Where is Tejashwi Yadav, that’s what all of Patna wants to know. The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief leader wasn’t there for the announcement of his party’s candidate for the July 30 Bankipur bypoll, or during father Lalu Prasad’s recent visit to a Patna hospital. He even missed the opening day of the assembly’s monsoon session. MLC Neeraj Kumar of the ruling JD(U) quipped that the Opposition leader had perhaps “gone abroad to settle an international dispute”. The RJD has also been coy about Tejashwi’s whereabouts, which has only fuelled the speculation.

LOOMING EXIT DOOR

The whispers of an imminent Cabinet reshuffle have got at least a few central ministers on edge. One of them recently hosted a dinner for top officials, where the conversation reportedly turned nostalgic. Another has deferred public engagements and even rescheduled briefings on parliamentary replies. A third, known for taking files home and working late, has quietly begun returning them to his office in batches. As always, the only man who knows is the PM, and he’s keeping his cards close to his chest.

BOARDING DENIED

Trinamool Congress No. 2 Abhishek Banerjee got a breather from the Calcutta High Court, but it’s still a no for the boarding pass. On July 20, the court extended its ‘protection from coercive action’ order till October 6 in a case over his alleged ‘DJ threat’ during the Bengal poll campaign (the plaintiffs allege the reference to DJ sounds making the ears ring on results day was made to intimidate voters). The HC, though, refused his plea to travel abroad for eye treatment, asking for specialists at SSKM Hospital to first examine him and submit a report.

—with Prasad Nichenametla, Ashish Misra, Amitabh Srivastava and Arkamoy Datta Majumdar