This Week Andhra Pradesh

All those years of controversy and absence from cricket have taken away none of Mohammed Azharuddins popularity in Hyderabad.

Hyderabad showers azhar with sympathy

All those years of controversy and absence from cricket have taken away none of Mohammed Azharuddins popularity in Hyderabad. It was late in the night when he landed from London but a large number of people turned up to receive him and express their sympathy following his son Aiyazuddins accident. At the hospital,he found that a stream of politicians,industrialists,sportspersons and filmstars had arrived before he did. His wife Sangeeta Bijlani,who had shifted to Mumbai,was now beside her stepson,as was the boys mother Naureen who had returned from Saudi Arabia. Azhar broke down when he saw his son,ruing the Eid gift he had given him the 1,000-cc motorcycle that the teenager went on to crash.

MLA resignations run into wall

Speaker Nadendla Manohar has all the answers for sitting on a flood of resignation letters 108 over Telangana,26 over the mention of late chief minister YSR Reddy in the CBIs FIR on his son Jaganmohans assets. He told some MLAs that they had not been in a proper frame of mind,advised them to go home and think again,and mildly ticked some off for not writing in the proper format. To Jagan loyalists,he said he would need a long time for a detailed study of the letters which had a single sentence each. Three women MLAs,who had resigned over Telangana,approached him to consider the same letters in the Jaganmohan context. He told them their earlier letters had crossed the expiry date and they should resign all over again.

Balakrishna political debut

Actor Nandamuri Balakrishnas plunge into politics has sent out mixed signals. Some see his announcement as a sign of a rift in the TDP family Balakrishna is the son of the TDP founder,late N T Rama Rao,and the brother-in-law of party chief N Chandrababu Naidu. Others say Naidu himself was behind the plunge,banking on the actors popularity to counter Jaganmohan Reddys growing influence,particularly in TDP-controlled areas. The veteran of 90 Telugu films announced on Monday that he wants to serve the people and contest the 2014 Assembly elections. Fans of Balaya celebrated his arrival,with some MLAs offering to vacate their seats should he want to contest right now. The actor had campaigned for the 2009 elections.