Soliloquy

Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy’s reluctance to clamp down in the face of the criticism that HYDRAA – Hyderabad Disaster Response and Assets Monitoring and Protection – has received shows that he is made of sterner stuff than what dictates realpolitik in the Deccan. That which began undoubtedly as a political vendetta has now reached proportions not seen since a police state was in power at the King Koti palace in 1948.

While Mr Reddy’s intentions were clear enough at the outset to target BRS legislators and their parties, the fact that he has tweaked them enough to also include erring gentlemen from all hues warms the heart. What gives him immunity from the censure that such spur-of-the-moment decisions generate is the oral orders that have helped former Warangal police commissioner AV Ranganath helm it.

There is nothing on paper that the judiciary can fault either Mr Reddy or Mr Ranganath against, much to the cheer of the INC lay folk. It is also a breakthrough in talks for environmentalists given how neatly HYDRAA has managed to prevent encroachment on precious lakes across the state. Needless to say, land sharks and encroachers across the state are having sleepless nights.

The question, however, remains as to how long this drive can continue and how soon Mr Reddy will have to bow down to popular opinion to further his political mileage. It is but expected for this to recede once he enters into his third year of office, but for now, he can live blissfully in Begumpet with the notion that while this idea exists almost singularly comfortably as that of living by the sword, it can reap rich dividends with those classes that have been persecuted for generations.

While living under the tenuous weight of expectations is often known to do a good man in, one can steer comfortably clear of making such allegations against Mr Reddy, who has been but singlemindedly devoted to weed out opposition of any sort to the changes he brings about in the state.

That he managed to stage an international tri-nation football tournament within months of coming into power in the city speaks in depth of what he wants to achieve. HYDRA, however, is a pandora’s box that will have to be closed by the 54-year-old once it becomes clear that the middle classes are disgruntled by his Robin Hood-esque cavalier approach to weeding out corruption in the Deccan and that whatever political advantage he had once aspired to gain was lost.

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