Sunday, November 10, 2013

Ganta – Balaraju rivalry reaches flash point, puts officials to trouble

By SNV Sudhir


Visakhapatnam, Nov 8, 2008: Rivalry between two state cabinet ministers hailing from Vizag,  Ganta Srinivasa Rao and P Balaraju seems was exposed  again here on Thursday with both of them holding review meetings with district officials  separately on the same subject.

Ports and infrastructure minister, Ganta Srinivasa Rao held a review meeting with the  district collector, Solomon Arokia Raj, GVMC commissioner, MV Satyanarayana along with heads of various other departments on the proposed Rachabanda programme scheduled to begin on Nov 11, at the conference hall of the government circuit house. The meeting lasted for close to two hours and arrangements for the programme were discussed elaborately.

Soon as Rao concluded the meeting and left the place, tribal welfare minister P  Balaraju held a meeting with the same set of officials at the same place on the  same issue. Officials were forced to discuss the same programme twice. “It was so tiring to discuss and repeat the same issues twice that too without any gap. They should have buried their differences and could have held the review meeting jointly,” felt a district official.

Interestingly, Balarju waited in a suite until Ganta Srinivasa Rao held the review  meeting and entered the conference hall only after Rao left. Rao and Balaraju are known  arch rivals in the district politics and never see eye to eye. It is rare to see then together at any programme. Balaraju had also skipped the chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy’s  proghrammes in the district in the last month twice where Rao was seen actively taking part.

While Balaraju said he would abide by the party central leadership’s decision on state bifurcation, Ganta Srininivasa Rao had openly found fault with the decision and actively took part in Samaikyandhra agitation related programmes.

The proposed ODI match between India and West Indies on Nov 24 has also exposed the rift and rivalry between the two ministers. While Ganta Srinivasa Rao opposed conducting the match in the backdrop of popular mood prevailing in this region over AP bifurcation, Balaraju welcomed the proposal.

Rao, on Thursday appealed the BCCI and ACC officials to shift the match venue. But  Balaraju on Thursday made a strong pitch to hold the match and also assured security to  hold it. “It’s a prestigious match and we should all feel proud that Vizag is hosting  such an international match. It will enhance the image of the city in the international  arena,” said Balaraju after the review meeting on Rachabanda.

1 comment:

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